P' 1 



p 




b. *r^7* A 









*<°- 



■' .0> 



I' J +<■. * 



a 










•bV" 



•o* 



" -# 




% **'' 

*»** 

.*>**, 







• e5 ^ - 




4.V] 







v~-y 



j<> "o. 




% 




T7T« A 



'ol? 






* V . 











iT .1 







•^ *•. 






• <* p 



.& 



J. **- 












\ 





















^°* 




*V* : 







V »1*° 



<r» »■ -*»> 



*.>%«?„% V A * 




* A v *$v 'I/OT 



THE 

TESTIMONY 

OF 

NATURE AND REVELATION 

TO THE 

BEING, PERFECTIONS, AND GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



Rev. HENRY FERGUS, Dunfermline. 

IUTHOR OF THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, TILJ- 
THE TERMINATION OF THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, 
IN LARDNEIt's CYCLOPEDIA. 



The living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, ami all 
:inngs that are therein."— Acts, xiv. 15. 

"Estenim animoruni ingeniorumque naturale quoddam quasi pabulum 
consideratio contemplatioque nature: eriginiur ; elatiores lieri videinur." 

Cicero. Jlcad. Qi«rs< 



PHILADELPHIA : 
KEY & BIDDLE, 23 MINOR STREET. 

1S33. 






r? 



i 



- 



PREFACE. 



The proofs of the Being, Perfections, and Government of 
God, may be indefinitely increased ; for, as our knowledge 
of creation extends, the evidences of design multiply upon us. 
It is the aim of the following Treatise to show, within nar- 
row limits, that contrivance, wisdom, and goodness, appear 
not in one province only, hut in every department of the Uni- 
verse which falls under our observation. Rav, Derham, and 
Paley, have distinguished themselves in this branch of 
learning; and of their excellent works the Author has occa- 
sionally availed himself. 

The subject is of universal interest, and has a paramount 
claim to earnest attention. Without reverence for Deity man 
is a degraded and forlorn prodigal : but religion felicitates 
and exalts our nature; and it is the first step in religion to 
believe that God is, and " that he is the rewarder of them 
who diligently seek him." Creation declares the existence 
of the Creator, invites us to contemplate his perfections in the 
works of his hand, reminds us of our relation to Him in 
" whom we live, and move, and have our being," and claims 
our grateful adoration for his unwearied kindness towards us. 
To accustom ourselves to recognise the hand of God in the 
appearances of nature and the events of providence, to ob- 
serve the adaptation of parts to each other, and the combina- 
tion of means for the attainment of ends, is an exercise wor- 
thy of the high faculties which our Maker has bestowed upon 
us, and cannot fail to promote both our intellectual and mo- 
ral improvement. 

To whatever quarter we turn our eye, we find ample mate- 
rials for this study. Animate and inanimate nature are alike 

A* 



\i PREFACE. 

instructive ; and their relation to each other indicates that 
unity of counsel which presided in the formation of the world. 
The atmosphere, for example, though invisible, connects dis- 
tant and dissimilar parts of the system, and combines them 
for the accomplishment of beneficial purposes. Without it 
no animal could live, no plant grow, no light shine, and no 
sound be heard; all would be sterility, desolation, and 
silence. But the earth is fitted up as a pleasant habitation for 
its noblest inhabitant ; and, 
in order to understand the plan of the Almighty with regard 
to him, it is necessary to attend to his character and condi- 
tion. He is a rational, immortal, and accountable being, in a 
course of education for a higher stage of existence. He is 
subject to trials ; and those trials have been eagerly seized, 
and plausibly urged, as inconsistent with the attributes of 
a benevolent Creator. The structure of the earth, the quali- 
ties of some of the inferior animals, and the vices and mise- 
ries of mankind, have been favourite arguments amono- infi- 
dels. To meet and answer the sceptical conclusions which 
have been drawn from these facts is the design of a consider- 
able portion of the following work ; but we trust its limits 
will not be considered as exceeding its importance. 

After an attentive examination of the phenomena, we may 
not be able to explain every difficulty ; but we are not left in 
doubt and uncertainty, for God has favoured us with an 
explicit revelation of his will in the Holy Scriptures. The 
Gospel is closely allied to Natural Religion, and its accord- 
ance with the appearances of the world, and the constitution 
of the human mind, is a proof of their common origin. It 
brightens our prospects under the trials of life, and gives 
clearer and more comprehensive views of faith and duty than 
the volume of Creation affords. There are many valuable 
works on evangelical truth in common circulation ; and there- 
fore, instead of enlarging on this part of the subject, the Au- 
thor has satisfied himself with giving a general view of the 
evidences of divine revelation, of its harmony with the inti- 
mations of nature, and of the duties of piety and obedience 



PREFACE. VU 

to which it leads. In delivering his pages to the Public, he 
indulges the hope, that the serious consideration of the whole 
may, under the blessing of God, help to confirm the faith, 
comfort the heart, and encourage the pious exertions of those 
who love the truth, and desire to obey it. 

Dunfermline, 20th March, 1833, 



CONTENTS. 



BOOK I. 

of the origin of the -wohid. 

Page 

Chap. I. Of the General Belief of Mankind, - - 1 

H. Of the Eternity of the World, ... 3 

IE. Of Chance, - 9 

IV. Of Design, ... - 11 



EVIDENCES OF DESIGN IN NATUHE. 

Chap. I. General Observations, - - 16 

n. The Human Eye, - - - 20 

III. General View of the Human Body, 

IV. The Inferior Animals, - - - - 41 
Sect. 1. Form of the Inferior Animals, - 43 

2. Clothing 1 of the Inferior Animals, - 51 

3. Defence of the Inferior Animals, 52 

4. Food of the Inferior Animals, - 55 

5. Adaptations of the Inferior Animals, 58 

6. Sexes of Animals. - - - 60 
Insects, .... 62 

Chap. V. Instinct, ..... 64 

Sect. 1. Means of Defence and Safety in the Infe- 

■ rior Animals, ... 66 

2. Means of procuring their Food, - 67 



* CONTENTS. 

Pioi 

Sect. 3. Their Habitations, - - 68 

4. Continuation of the Species, - - 70 

Chap. Vl. The Ocean, ... . 73 

1. General "View of the Ocean, - - ?9 

2. Uses of the Ocean, - - 83 
VII. The general Appearance of the Earth, and Vege- 
tation, - 

VIII. The Atmosphere, .... 

IX. Light, 

X. Astronomy, .... 

Forms of the Heavenly Bodies, 
Arrangement of the Heveanly Bodies, 
Motions of the Heavenly Bodies, 
Fixed Stars, .... 



BOOK III. 

OF THE PERFECTIONS OF DEITT. 

Chap. I. Of the Unity of Deity. - . . us 

II. Of the Power of Deity, - - . 122 

ni. Of the "Wisdom of Deity, - - - 123 

IV. Of the Goodness of Deity, - - . 125 

V. Of the Character and State of Man, - 130 

Man an immortal Being, - - - 130 

Man an accountable Being*, - - 135 

\ F. Evil in the World, - - . - 142 

Sect, 1. Evils of Imperfection, - - 144 

2. Moral Evil, .... 146 

3. Natural Evil, - - . 155 
Physical Constitution of the Earth, 161 
Nature of Some of the Inferior Ani- 
mals, - . . - 176 

The Pains and Sorrows to which Man 
is exposed from his Constitution, and 
the Circumstances in which he is 

placed, .... 184 



BOOK IV. 

THE GOSPEi. 

Page 
'. I. The Gospel a Message from God, - - 192 

Miracles performed by Jesus attest his Divine 

Mission. 
Prophecies relating to, and uttered by him. 
His Character. His Doctrine. 
II. Harmony of Nature and Eevelation. 207 

III. Christian Duty, - - - - 217 

Our Duty to God, to our Neighbour, 
and to Ourselves. 



BOOK I. 

OF THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD. 



CHAPTER I. 

OF THE GENERAL BELIEF OF MANKIND. 

Crantz, in his History of Greenland, tells us that a native 
of that country once addressed him in the following; manner : 
" It is true we were ignorant heathens and knew little of God 
till you came. But you must not imagine that no Greenland- 
er thinks about those things. A kajak (a Greenland boat), 
with all its tackle and implements, cannot exist but by the la- 
bour of man. But the formation of the meanest bird requires 
more skill than that of the best kajak, and no man can make 
a bird. There is still more skill required to make a man : by 
whom then was he made 1 He proceeded from his parents, 
and they from their parents. But some must have been the 
first parents, and whence did they proceed 1 Common report 
says they grew out of the earth. If so, why do not men orrow 
out of the earth still 1 And whence came the earth itself, 
the sun, the moon, and the stars'? Certainly there must be 
some Being who made all these things ; a Being more wise 
than the wisest man." Such was the reasoning of the untu- 
tored inhabitant of the frozen coast of Greenland, and in some 
such way, have mankind always reasoned ; for no truth has 
been more universally received than the existence of God. 
"Who," says ./Elian, " does not admire the wisdom of the 
barbarians, none of whom ever fell into the atheistical absur- 
dities of Eumenes, Diagoras, Epicurus, and other philoso- 
phers'? Nolndian, Celt, or Egyptian, ever questioned whether 
there were Gods, or whether they concerned themselves with 
the affairs of men." 

Some errors and some vices characterize society in parti- 
cular stages of its progress, or when placed in peculiar circum- 
stances : but atheism is never the error of society, in any stage 
or in any circumstances whatsoever. It is the hypothesis of 
a few thinly scattered individuals in civilized nations, at times 
1 



2 GENERAL BELIEF OF MANKIND. 

when from caprice, vanity, and ostentation, the most obvious 
truths are denii d, and the mosl whimsical and pernicious pa- 
radox) - are zealously published and defended. Belief in the 
existence of God has prevailed in every age, and in every 
quarter of the world, and in every stage of society. In this 
point the savage and thesage have agreed. The rude hunter 
of the wilderness, and the polished inhabitant of the magnifi- 
cent city, between whom there is a vast difference of habits, 
of knowledge, and of opinions, unite in the belief of the exist- 
ence of Deity, and with equal earnestness supplicate his fa- 
vour. On this subject the great error has been not the denial 
of one God, but the belief of many: polytheism, however, 
has been a popular and poetical rather than a philosophical 
error. Men have entertained false notions of the nature of 
God, but still they have believed in his existence; and the 
erroneous conceptions which have accompanied this belief, 
instead of attaching any discredit to the interesting truth tend 
to confirm it. They show that the existence of Deity is so 
plainly engraven on the face of nature, and so consentaneous 
to the dictates of reason, and to the unperverted feelings of 
the human mind, that it meets with a ready reception, even 
when accompanied by absurdities. 

Is it alleged that some tribes of human beings have been 
found among whom no traces of belief in the existence of 
Deity were discoverable? The allegation is questionable. 
Of these tribes we know too little to speak with certainty of 
their creed : and even supposing the affirmation founded on 
fact, it must not be forgotten that those tribes are in a state 
of extreme degradation; and that they are not to be consi- 
dered as denying the existence of God, but as being so brutal 
as to have no opinion or belief on the subject. Belief in the 
existence of Deity has all the authority which it can derive 
from opinion : it has the general suffrage of the human race. 
This is no slio-ht presumption of the truth of the thing believ- 
ed ; for where mankind, in all the different circumstances in 
which they have been placed, have generally agreed on any 
(rreat point relating to their common interest, their agreement 
may fairly be interpreted as the dictate of their nature, and 
consequently may be considered as having a rational claim to 
general reception. ' 

For the creneral belief in the existence of God there must be 
an adequate cause. Where shall we find such a cause but in 
the appearances of the universe indicating a powerful, wise, 
and good Being, the Creator of all things 1 It is in vain to 
attribute this belief to tradition. Tradition cannot account for 



OF THE ETERNITY OF THE WORLD. 3 

the fact ; for the question immediately occurs, what was the 
origin of the tradition 1 Besides, no mere tradition could 
have been so widely and permanently diffused : it could not 
have been preserved among all tribes of men, and amidst 
all the vicissitudes of the human race. The flimsy allegation 
which ascribes the origin of this belief to the artificers of in- 
terested politicians is unworthy of notice, and may be dismis- 
sed with contempt. If general opinion and belief, then, could 
place any truth beyond the reach of controversy, the question 
concerning the being of God would long ere now have been 
finally determined ; for on no other points have mankind so 
generally agreed as in believing the existence of God, and 
the immortality of the soul. But although belief in the exist- 
ence of God has been general, yet it has not been universal ; 
for the fool, says an ancient sage, has said in his heart there is 
no God. 

The general belief of mankind is not of itself decisive evi- 
dence of the truth of the thing believed. But, even as evi- 
dence, it is not hastily to be dismissed from our minds, un- 
less we can point out in a clear and satisfactory manner the 
causes of general error. Men have been led to the conclusion 
that there is a God by the appearances of the universe ; and 
if those appearances, when calmly and rationally contempla- 
ted, justify the conclusion, then the opinion which it esta- 
blishes is entitled to a cordial reception by the candid and se- 
rious inquirer after truth. It has, indeed, been attempted in 
different ways to evade the conclusion now mentioned. It has 
been alleged by some that the world is eternal ; and others 
have been of opinion that the universe is a casual production. 
These speculations claim some notice, although they need not 
detain us long-. 



CHAPTER II. 

OF THE ETERNITY OF THE WORLD. 

The belief of the first men of whose opinions we have any 
record, the progressive population of the world, the recent ori 
gin of arts and sciences, ancient tradition and early history, 
all militate against the eternity of the world. We are not now 



4 OF THE ETERNITY OF THE WORLD. 

speaking of inert matter only, but of the whole system of 
things as we see it. Forifil bi admitted that any part of the 

sysi.in is nol eternal, then the whole hypothesis tails to the 
ground. Either all is eternal, or we h ive no reason to con- 
clude that any part is so. But how can the human race be 
eternal ? 1 exist ; bul I do uot necessarily exist, for once I 
was not. I did not bring myself into existence. My parents 
were not their own creators I and although I go back as far as 
the wing of imagination can bear me, still I am as unable sa- 
tisfactorily to account for the existence of those whom I then 
find alive, as I am to account for my own existence, orforthe 
exist, me of those who have lived at any intermediate period. 
By going backward I remove the difficulty from one point to 
another ; but still, at any given point, that difficulty is just 
the same as when it first met me. According, however, to 
the constitution of my nature, I cannot rest satisfied till I come 
either to a self-created or to a necessarily existing being. But 
a self-cn involves a contradiction. It involves ex- 

istence and nonexistence at the same time. I must, there- 
fore, arrive at a necessarily existing, and consequently eter- 
nal being, as the first must of my own existence. 

Thus I think, that according to the constitution of my na- 
ture, I must either believe in an eternal and intelligent first 
cause; or, in something at least equally incomprehensible, 
and also altogether absurd. To talk of an infinite succession 
of beino-s such as man, is merely an unphilosophical attempt 
to push out of sight the difficulty of accounting for our first 
formation : but that difficulty it in no degree removes. For, 
according to this hypothesis, how high soever we ascend, we 
find no animated being but what has derived its existence 
from a being of the same kind with itself. Still we meet with 
plain marks' of design; hut the designing cause we have 
not found. Contrivance is obvious ; but the contriving mind 
which must have existed before the contrivance, we have not 
discovered. It may he added, that the speculations of those 
who have attempted to trace the vestiges of the human race 
to a very remote antiquity have not been successful. There 
is no reason to believe that men have existed on the earth 
above six or seven thousand years. 

Our globe has undergone some great revolutions. This 

,1,,. structure of iis parts, and the organic remains found in 

it, clearly prove Bet these revolutions were antecedent to 

of VI, uu. The organic remains indicate no traces 

of human beings. Neither reason nor revelation require us 



OF THE ETERNITY OF THE WORLD. 5 

to believe, that the matter of this world was first called into 
existence at the time of the creation mentioned in the Jewish 
Scriptures. It may have existed before in different forms, 
and may have undergone many changes. But having- been 
deranged and reduced to a chaotic mass by some mighty ca- 
tastrophe, it was then fitted up for the reception of new inha- 
bitants and the exhibition of new scenes, and was subjected 
to laws adapted to the new order of things. 

Geological speculations can never be successfully employ- 
ed in ascertaining the antiquity of the human race; for how 
shall we determine the state of matter when our globe was 
first subjected to the operation of those laws under which it 
now exists 1 To apply the result of observations on the pre- 
sent order of nature to a state of things anterior to, and per- 
haps altogether different from the present system, can lead to 
no correct conclusions. In an investigation of this kind, the 
very first point to be ascertained is, the state of matter when 
the present system of laws began to operate : a point which 
no human industry or ingenuity can ascertain ; and without 
which, any speculations on this subject, with a view to de- 
termine the antiquity of the world, are mere illusions. Nay, 
from the phenomena of the existing system, rash and hasty 
conclusions may be drawn, which, although at first sight 
plausible, will not bear the test of examination. The argu- 
ment of Recupero, founded on the lavas of ^Etna, mio-ht have 
been considered decisive, had not the ruins of Herculaneum 
demonstrated its fallacy. 

The astronomical arguments which have been adduced on 
this subject, are as deceitful and unsatisfactory as those of a 
geological kind. Astronomy is incomparably the more ad- 
vanced of the two sciences ; but the history of astronomy is 
imperfect, and on some points very uncertain. Much has 
been said of the high antiquity of the Indian astronomical 
tables ; but the eloquence of Bailly and the science of Play- 
fair have not succeeded in proving them to be founded on 
observation. There is good reason to believe that they were 
formed by computation. This is the opinion of La Place, and 
it is strongly supported by the arguments of Bentley. The 
probability is that Indian science, instead of being of high 
antiquity, was derived from the Arabians, through the Greeks 
and Persians. According to Montucla, the distinguished 
historian of science, the most ancient Chinese observations 
are 2155 years before the Christian era; being, according to 
Usher's chronology, about 160 years before the birth of the 
patriarch Abraham. If the Fohi of the Chinese be the Noah 
1* 



6 OF THE ETERNITY OF THE WORLD. 

of the Hebrew Scriptures, he may have transported into that 
country the feint lights of antediluvian Bcience.* 

An argument in favour of the high antiquity of the human 
lice has been founded on the zodiacs in the temples of La- 
topnlis and Tentyra, two ancienl cities in the Upper Egypt. 
This argument rests on a great astronomical fact, the pre- 
of the equinoxes. The equinoctial and solstitial 
points do not invariahly occupy the same places in the eclip- 
tic, but have a retrograde motion of about 50s" in a year ; 
by which they \\ ill accomplish a revolution in about 35,750 
years. Now", in the zodiac of Latopolis, the modern Esneh, 
Leo, we are told, is represented as the last <A' the ascending 
signs, and it has been stated that a sphinx there represents 
the sun at the summer solstice, just in the point where the 
last degree of Leo meets the first degree of Virgo. But at 
present* the colure of the summer solstice is in the first degree 
of Gemini ; and therefore it has been inferred, that as the 
space between the first degree of Gemini and the last degree of 
Leo, is to the whole of the ecliptic, so must the period 
since the construction of the zodiac <.f Latopolis be to 25,750 
years. This inference would no doubt be consequentially 
drawn, if it were proved thai the above was a true explana- 
tion of the zodiac of Latopolis, and that that zodiac was a 
correct picture of the heavens al the time of its formation. But 
on these points doubts and suspicions crowd in upon us. 
Plutarch and Maerobius would have been surprised and amused 
to hear the sphinx spoken of as an emblem of the sun. The 
Egyptians, it is true, worshipped that luminary under differ- 
ent names and symbols ; but the sphinx was not one of them. 
To imagine then that this symbol represents the sun, is a 
gratuitous and unauthorized assumption. 

Besides, there is no good reason to believe that the zodiac 
of Latopolis was a correct picture of the heavens at the time 
of its formation. Although we allow the highest praise to 
the genius and industry of ancient astronomers, yet it cannot 
be denied that their instruments were rude and clumsy, and 
many of their observations inaccurate. Theyerred more than 
half a degree in the latitude of Syen£, a place at no great 
distance from Latopolis ; and does this encourage the pre- 



* The curious reader may consult a Dissertation on Hindoo 
Astronomy, bj Professor Wallace, in the 8th volume of the 
Edinburgh Cabinet Library. 



OF THE ETERNITY OF THE WORLD. 7 

sumption that they were qualified to give a correct delinea- 
tion of the zodiac 1 The Egyptians were moreover very vain, 
and boasted of a high antiquity. Alter the days of Hippar- 
chus, might they not give false representations of the heavens 
with a view to countenance and encourage this vanity ? It 
may be remarked, that the decorations of the Egyptian tem- 
ples are not of the same antiquity with the temples them- 
selves. 

Farther, in the zodiac of Tentyra, the modern Dendera, 
Leo is not represented as the last of the ascending, but as 
the first of the descending signs. Does not this show that 
one, if not both of those zodiacs, is posterior to the time of 
Hipparchus 1 For if one of those zodiacs represents Leo as 
the last of the ascending, and the other as the first of the de- 
scending signs, was not this (supposing those zodiacs to be 
correct) a demonstration that the solstitial, and consequently 
the equinoctial points are moveable 1 ? But this, as is well 
known, was the grand discovery of Hipparchus; a discovery 
in no degree owing to the zodiacs of Latopolis and Tentyra, 
but made by comparing his own observations with those of 
Aristyllus and Timochares about 150 years before. Hip- 
parchus diligently inquired into all the observations of Chal- 
dean and Egyptian astronomers; but although it is probable 
that the former of those nations cultivated astronomy before 
the latter, yet he could find no observations that had been 
made at Babylon, previous to the reign of Nabonassar, 747 
years before Christ. Berosus, a Chaldean, who lived about 
300 years before the Christian era, knew of no monuments of 
Chaldean astronomy more ancient than 480 years before his 
own time : and neither Hipparchus nor Ptolemy ever heard 
of observations for 1003 years transmitted by Callisthenes to 
Aristotle, about the year 331 before Christ. Simplicius, a 
peripatetic philosopher, and commentator on Aristotle, who 
lived in the sixth century of the Christian era, makes men- 
tion of such observations ; but his authority and that of Por- 
phyry, from whom he borrowed the story, are too modern to 
be entitled to any regard. In short, these Egyptian zodiacs 
were unknown to Hipparchus ; and if they had existed in his 
time, would they have escaped the notice of that careful ob- 
server and indefatigable inquirer 1 Would he not have ap- 
pealed to them, as well as to the observations of Aristyllus 
and Timochares, in proof of the precession of the equinoxes 1 
But it is needless to dwell longer on the subject, for there is 
no evidence that the Egyptians had zodiacs, with our signs 



8 OF THE ETERNITY OF THE WORLD. 

and names, before the establishment of the Greeks in that 
country.* 

It has been said that all things sprung from necessity. Ne- 
cessity, however, is not an agent, but the state or condition 
of an agent; and if they who use the word, in the sense 
under consideration, attach any distinct conceptions to their 
language, they must by it understand an agent aeting neces- 
sarily. Bui an agent acting- necessarily is in reality no agent, 
but merely an instrument in the hand of another. Such, 
however, is the constitution of our nature that we cannot rest 
satisfied till we find a being operating not by necessity but 
by will and choice. We must find an efficient cause that had 
power to give or not to give existence to every creature. Ne- 
cessity must result from something antecedent to itself. 

Some persons talk of appetency. What do they mean by 
the word 1 Is it chemical affinity ] If it be so, we understand 
the signification of the language, but cannot conceive with 
what propriety it is introduced on the present occasion. Has 
chemical affinity ever formed an organized being? If any 
person hazard the affirmative, let him produce an example: 
this he cannot do. But appetency, it may be said, is an en- 
deavour perpetually and imperceptibly working its effects 
through a long succession of generations. We know that 
the perennial mountain stream operates insensibly, and in the 
course of ages hollows out a channel in the rock; but we 
know of no such operation producing either a plant or an 
animal. 

To talk, as some have talked, of " Nature forming the first 
rudiments of organization, or spontaneous generations, which, 
gradually in a long series of ages and under the modifying 
influence of different circumstances, appear in all the orga- 
nized forms which exist on the earth," is, to say the least of 
it, something that requires explanation, or that cannot be 
proved. What are we to understand by Nature? The word 
maybe used figuratively for the Author of Nature: or it 
may mean that order and constitution of things which the Su- 
preme Intelligence has established and maintains. In this 
last sense, it is of the same import with the Laws of Nature. 
Now, to talk of the laws of nature, to the exclusion of an 



* Dr. Richardson, in his Travels, thinks it requires a good 
deal of imagination to make the drawings in these temples zo- 
diacs ; and some late interpreters of the hieroglyphics make them 
the work of Roman emperors. 



OF CHANCE. 9 

Intelligent Agent, is absurd. The very term lav> implies such 
an agent. Law is not an agent. It is not endowed with ac- 
tive power, and therefore cannot he a cause in the proper 
sense of the word. Law is the expression of mind, and the 
rule according to which intelligence acts. Without the agent 
the law is nothing, Without his agency it never could have 
existed, for it merely expresses the manner of his proce- 
dure. 

Where is the proof that Nature has formed all her produc- 
tions after long periods of time 1 Show us an example of 
the first rudiments of organization, or a spontaneous genera- 
tion. Show us any one of those rudiments in the first stage 
of its progress, or undergoing any of those metamorphoses, 
through which it passes in advancing to a more perfect form. 
At any assumed point, tell us what was its last form, and 
what will be its next. Men and other animals are still such 
as they have always been. But a hypothesis countenanced 
by no known fact in nature, has no legitimate claim to the 
character of philosophy, and may be fairly dismissed as a 
dream. 



CHAPTER III. 



Some persons have been of opinion that Chance was the au- 
thor' of all things. What is Chance ? In common language, 
by this word we express our ignorance of a cause, or our 
want of intention. When we say a thing happened by chance, 
we do not mean to describe chance as the cause of the fact 
or event ; but merely to say that we are ignorant of the cause, 
or that the event happened without intention on our part. 
The Atheist, however, uses the word to the exclusion of an 
intelligent and designing cause from the formation of the uni- 
verse. But how did chance produce either matter or motion? 
We may indeed be told that we are equally ignorant how an, 
intelligent cause operated in the production of those effects. 
It may be so. But by the introduction of Deity we assign 
an intelligent and sufficient cause for all the phenomena, al- 
though we may not comprehend the manner in which this 
cause operated in their production. 

But although matter and motion be given, the difficulties of 



10 



OF CHANCE. 



the chance philosopher are little diminished. How do chance, 
matter, and motion, produce an organized substance? How 
do they form a sentient being? How do they constitute and 
maintain a system of animated and rational existence? We 
confidently affirm that chance, matter, and motion, have never 
formed, and never will form, an organic structure. Let all 
the men of the world employ the best efforts of their reason 
and ingenuity in arranging and combining matter in thousands 
and millions of different ways, still they cannot produce a 
single plant or a single animal in any other than the common 
way. By a proper adjustment of the temperature, they may 
supply the incubation of the bird; but without the bird they 
cannot form the egg. Has chance, then, produced that rich, 
and beautiful variety of vegetable, sentient, and rational na- 
ture, which adorns and felicitates our eartb ; and is Man, with 
all his reason and science, unable to succeed in a single 
instance? That unthinking and undesigning chance should 
produce intelligent and designing beings, is a notion utterly 
unfit for gaining admission into the human mind. The un- 
derstanding of mankind revolts from it. Their observation 
and experience pronounce it untrue. 

If the fortuitous concourse of atoms has formed all things ; 
if the different orders of sentient beings have sprung from 
accidental combinations of matter ; bow happens it that al- 
chymists and chemists, in all their mixtures for discovering 
the philosopher's stone, or even for making phosphorus, have 
not hit upon any new combination which produced a living 
creature; a fly or a frog, a monkey or a man? Franklin has 
taught us to rob the clouds of their lightning. Galvani and 
Volta have discovered combinations of matter by which, even 
after the vital spark is extinguished, the animal frame ean 
he thrown into violent contortions. But no philosopher has 
discovered a new process for forming any one living creature. 
It is not unreasonable, however, to think that if the system 
of the chance philosophers had any foundation in truth, new 
processes for making living creatures would long ere now 
have been discovered ; and that he would have been as well 
acquainted with receipts for forming animals of new kinds, 
and also with different ways of making those that formerly 
existed, as we are with prescriptions for procuring oxygen 
gas, or pulvis fulminans. 

If chance produced all things at first, why do we not see 
chance operating still? If chance reared the world, why do 
we never see it building a palace or a cottage? If chance 
made man, why does it never draw a portrait? If all things 



OF DESIGN. 11 

be the offspring of chance, how happens it that we do not 
see new forms rising into life; animals unheard of before ap- 
pearing in the world ; and all the fictions of the poets real- 
ized? How happens it that the casual concurrence of atoms 
does not derange the system which it had formed, and alter 
it in a thousand different ways; that we never see a tree 
changing into a man, nor a man dwindling into a mushroom; 
nor a human head united to a horse's neck \ Has chance 
stumbled blindly on till it reared the beautiful and magnifi- 
cent fabric of the Universe ; till in every instance, through- 
out the whole extent of nature, it hit upon the only possible 
combinations from which such noble results could proceed, 
and then for ever ceased from its blind and stumbling - opera- 
tions 1 The supposition is too extravagant to gain admission, 
for a moment, into a sober and rational mind. Indeed the 
whole hypothesis of the chance philosophers is rather to be 
considered as an instance of the strange vagaries of the hu- 
man imagination, than as a system capable, in any degree, 
of bearing the test of reason, or satisfying the mind of the 
serious and candid inquirer after truth.* 



CHAPTER IV. 



OF DESIGN. 



The opinion that the system of the world has been eternal 
cannot bear examination: and the hypothesis which ascribes 
the origin of the universe to a casual concurrence of atoms 
is utterly unsatisfactory. To arrange and organize matter, 
as we see it arranged and organized in the fabric of the world, 
is the work of mind ; for in the fabric of the world, we every 
where see plain indications of design and contrivance. But 
where there are design and contrivance there must be intel- 
ligence. The intelligent being may act either mediately or 



* The ancient chance and atomic philosophers were not agreed 
among themselves. Some of them, as Epicurus, supposed the 
atoms, which, by their fortuitous concourse, formed all things, 
were inanimated: others, as Democritus, believed them animat- 
ed; teaching a doctrine, perhaps essentially the same with the 
living organic particles of more recent times. Whence did 
these atoms derive their animation ? 



12 OF DESIGN. 

immediately; but still he must exist and act. It may be as- 
sumed as the dictate of our nature that every effect must have 
an adequate cause. Such is the constitution of our minds, 
that this is equally the conviction of the savage and the sage. 
Wherever we see the fit combination of means in order to the 
attainment of an end, we thence, invariably and without he- 
sitation, infer the existence of a designing cause.* 

The possibility of discovering design by its effects has 
been denied; but there are some things which by the very 
constitution of our nature we are compelled to believe. The 
conviction is universal and irresistible, and can neither be 
weakened by metaphysical fallacies, nor strengthened by 
demonstration. The man who attempts to make me doubt 
my own existence, or that of matter around me, may puzzle 
my understanding by the subtlety of his reasoning, or dazzle 
my imagination by the splendour of his eloquence; but he 
makes no impression on my belief. The same is the case 
with him who tells me that I can have no conception of active 
power, or who labours to persuade me that I cannot discover 
design in its effects. In spite of his distinctions and his 
acuteness, my belief remains unchanged. He no more alters 
the convictions of my mind than the colour of my skin. For 
by attending to my own voluntary actions, I have a concep- 
tion of active power. I am conscious of my own volitions, 
and experience teaches me that these volitions are followed 
by corresponding effects. Now, although I am unable to 
understand or explain the manner in which mind acts upon 
matter, yet I have all the evidence of which the case admits, 
or which my nature requires, that my volitions and exertions 
are the efficient cause of the effects produced. Wherever I 
observe mutual adaptation, reciprocal dependence, the relation 



* Without entering into any abstruse speculations about cau- 
sation, we may, with Dr. Reid, remark, that in common lan- 
guage, cause is a very vague word, and is applied to any antece- 
dent that is connected with the effect. In Natural Philosophy 
when we speak of a cause, we mean a law of nature from which 
the phenomenon results. This is a physical cause: it means the 
law or rule according to which the efficient cause acts. But by 
a metaphysical or efficient cause, we mean a being with under- 
standing, will, and power, equal to the production of the effect. 
Nothing but an efficient cause can give existence to that which 
had no existence before: and in a series the efficient cause must 
begin it, and establish the law by which it is carried on. 



OF DESIGN. 13 

of parts to one another and to a common end, there I believe 
there has been design. The belief is invariable and it is 
certain. I am led to it by all my notions resulting from con- 
sciousness, perception, testimony, and inference. Experience 
proves it invariably true. 

Aristippus was shipwrecked on an island, where he and his 
companions were apprehensive of being destroyed by barba- 
rians, or torn to pieces by wild beasts. He perceived some 
geometrical figures roughly sketched on the shore. "Let us 
take courage, my friends," exclaimed lie, "for I see the ves- 
tiges of civilized men !" The judgment which he formed 
was instantaneous and certain. He never suspected that 
those figures had been scratched by the talon of the eagle, the 
paw of the lion, or even by the finger of a savage. If, how- 
ever, upon landing on an unknown shore, instead of a few 
figures roughly sketched on the sand, we were to find a geo- 
metrical treatise, such, for instance, as the first six books of 
Euclid, with all the propositions, diagrams, and demonstra- 
tions, would any one hesitate, for a single moment, to pro- 
nounce that this was the work of some civilized and intelli- 
gent being? No man capable of exercising reason would 
pronounce it the work of chance. Would a voyager, landing 
on an uninhabited island, and finding a magnificent and splen- 
did city, adorned with palaces, and temples, and towers, ima- 
gine, because he saw no inhabitants, that the city had risen 
up there without the operation of an intelligent agent? No : 
a native of oriental climes might pronounce it the work of the 
genii; but no person would imag-ine that it had come there 
without a designing cause, a contriving mind. 

It is by the inference of design from its effects, that, in 
many instances, we form our opinions and regulate our con- 
duct. How do we distinguish a man of sagacity from a fool ? 
A person of integrity from a villain? Why do we punish the 
incendiary and the murderer? It is because our opinions are 
formed and our conduct regulated by the inference of design 
from its effects. And before we cease to think in this man- 
ner, we must divest ourselves of our nature; we must cease 
to be men. This principle, which is forced upon us by the 
very constitution of our nature, and which is confirmed by 
daily experience, we must carry along with us when we sur- 
vey the universe. We cannot divest ourselves of it. If, 
therefore, in our examination of Nature, we perceive combi- 
nations and relations which, according to all our notions, in- 
dicate design, then we are irresistibly led to infer the exist- 
ence of a designing cause. This is no wanton hypothesis, 
2 



14 OF DESIGN. 

no gratuitous assumption. It flows from a principle deeply 
rooted in our nature, and which influences many of our opi- 
nions, and much of our conduct. 

It may, perhaps, be said that our knowledge of the design 
of the artist in any piece of mechanism, or of the architect in 
planning and building a palace or a city, arises from our hav- 
ing seen other things of the same kind, and having been in- 
formed of the design ,■ but that the universe is something of 
its own kind ; that it is one only ; that there is no fair analogy 
between it and any work of man ; and that, therefore, we 
cannot trace design in it. It is true, indeed, that the universe 
is but one. It consists, however, of many parts ; and if, 
either in the whole, or in any of the parts, we perceive those 
kinds of combinations and relations which, according to the 
constitution of our nature, and all our observation and expe- 
rience, we consider as indicative of design, then we are as 
irresistibly led to infer the existence of a designing cause in 
the one case as in the other. And in proportion as the uni- 
verse, or any part of it, is superior to any effect of human 
contrivance and power, so the designing cause must, in the 
same proportion at least, be superior to man in wisdom and 
might. A watch is but one, yet it consists of many different 
parts, and plainly indicates design and contrivance. And 
though there were only one watch in the world, no man in 
the possession of his understanding would pronounce it a 
casual production. 

The distance between the construction of any piece of me- 
chanism, and that of the vast system of the universe is, in- 
deed, immeasurably great. This, however, does not destroy 
the analogy; but ft greatly weakens the impression of that 
analogy on our minds. In comparing a mite with an elephant, 
we, in some measure, lose sight of the comparison by the 
immense disparity between the tilings compared. This is 
much more the case in comparing the world with a piece of 
mechanism. In order to see and feel the full force of the 
comparison, there must be something like equality between 
the things compared; or, at least, we must be able to com- 
pute the inequality. For, it is only in proportion as we are 
able distinctly to see, and accurately to compute the differ- 
ence between the things compared, that we feel the force of 
the comparison. But the disparity between the universe and 
the effects of human ingenuity and power are incalculable, 
and therefore the argument from analogy does not make a 
due impression on our mind. 

We do not pretend fully to understand the designs of God 



OF DESIGN. 15 

in his works ; but to argue that we can know no part of those 
designs, because we cannot comprehend them in all their 
variety and extent, is attempting to draw a general conclu- 
sion from partial premises. Because we do not fully under- 
stand the economy of the comets, can it, be logically inferred 
that we know nothing of the solar system, or of the design of 
the sun ] Will any man assert that we are ignorant of the 
design of the organs of sertse, because we cannot explain how 
the nerves connected with different organs produce different 
sensations ] Such conclusions, drawn from such premises, 
are not entitled to much consideration. To state them plainly 
is a sufficient refutation. The man who denies that it is any 
part of the design of the sun to enlighten, warm, and fertilize 
the earth ; or of the eye to see, and of the ear to hear ; or who 
seriously maintains that, from the effects, we cannot fairly 
infer such a design, is unquestionably under the influence of 
very powerful prejudices. In these instances the relations 
are obvious; and every unperverted mind must be fully satis- 
fied that it is the design of the sun to communicate light and 
heat to the earth, of the eye to see, and of the ear to hear. 
These we may confidently assume as designs of the Deity ; 
and may reason concerning the fitness of the means to accom- 
plish the ends, and from that fitness may form our estimate 
of the attributes of the Supreme Intelligence. 

In inquiring into the designs of the Creator in his works, 
there is no presumption. Our inquiries ought to be conducted 
with profound reverence for the Being who formed and who up- 
holds the universe ; and, when so conducted, instead of being 
indications of impiety or audacity, they are expressions of 
admiration and homage. The essence of Deity is not the ob- 
ject, of our senses ; but he exhibits himself to us in his works, 
and in these he invites us to contemplate the proofs of his 
existence and the glory of his perfections. To trace the hand 
of the Almighty in the fabric of the universe, is a suitable 
exercise of the noble faculties with which he has endowed 
us ; it is a tribute of homage to him who made us ; and must 
be the means of much improvement and happiness to ourselves. 
"The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them 
that have pleasure therein."* 

* The apriori argument I have not introduced, because to my 
mind it has never appeared very satisfactory. Dr. Ried (Intell. 
Powers, p. 314, 4to ed.) says, " Sir Isaac Newton thought that 
the Deity, by existing" everywhere, and at all times, constitutes 
time and space, immensity and eternity. This probably suggested 



BOOK II. 

EVIDENCES OF DESIGN IN NATURE. 



CHAPTER I. 

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 

We shall now proceed to consider some of the evidences 
of design in the fabric of nature ; and, instead of selecting a 



to his great friend Dr. Clarke what he calls the argument a priori 
for the existence of an immense and eternal Being. Space and 
time, lie thought, are only abstract or partial conceptions of an 
immensity and eternity which forces itself upon our belief. And 
as immensity and eternity are not substances, they must be the 
attributes of a Being who is necessarily immense and eternal. 
These are the speculations of men of superior genius. But 
whether they be as solid as they are sublime, or whether they 
bethe wanderings of imagination in a region beyond the limits 
of human understanding, I am unable to determine." 

Professor Dugald Stewart, in his dissertation on the progress 
of Metaphysical, Ethical, and Political Philosophy, in the En- 
cyclopaedia Britannica, Part II., p. 65, says, "How far the pecu- 
liar cast of Newton's genius qualified him for prosecuting suc- 
cessfully the study of mind, he has not afforded us sufficient data 
forjudging; but such was the admiration with which his trans- 
cendant powers as a mathematician and natural philosopher 
were universally regarded, that the slightest of his hints on 
other subjects have been eagerh seized upon as indisputable 
axioms, though sometimes with little other evidence in their fa- 
vour but the supposed sanction of his authority. The part of 
his works, however, which chiefly led me to connect his name 
with that of Clarke, is a passage in the Scholium annexed to his 
Principia, which may be considered as the germ of the celebrated 
argument a priori for the existence of God, which is commonly, 
though, I apprehend, not justly, regarded as the most import- 
ant of all Clarke's contributions to metaphysical philosophy. I 
shall quote the passage in Newton's own words, to the oracular 
conciseness of which no English version can do justice. 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 17 

few insulated examples from particular departments of the 
world, shall take a rapid but wide survey of the universe, and 



" « iEternus est et infinitus, omnipotens et omnisciens; id est, 
durat ab seterno in sternum, et adcst ab infinite in infinitum. 
Non est jeternitas et infinitas, sed xternus et infinitus; non est 
duratio et spatium, sed durat et adest. Durat semper et adest 
ubique, et existendo semper et ubique durationem et spatium 
constituit.' Proceeding' on these principles, Dr. Clarke argued, 
that as immensity and eternity (which force themselves irresisti- , 
bly on our belief as necessary existencies, or, in other words, as 
existencies of which the annihilation is impossible) are not sub- 
stances, but attributes, the immense and eternal Being, whose 
attributes they are, must exist of necessity also. The existence 
of God, therefore, according to Clarke, is a truth that follows 
with demonstrative evidence from those conceptions of space 
and time which are inseparable from the human mind." 

After quoting the passage from Dr. Ried, cited at the begin- 
ning' of this note, Mr. Stewart proceeds and says, " After this 
candid acknowledgment from Dr. Ried, I need not be ashamed 
to confess my own doubts and difficulties on the same question " 

Dr. Thomas Brown in his 92d lecture says, " If the world had 
been without any of its present adaptation of parts to parts, only 
a mass of matter, irregular in form, and quiescent, — and if we 
could conceive ourselves, with all our faculties as vigorous as 
now, contemplating such an irregular and quiescent mass, with- 
out any thought of the order displayed in our own mental frame, 
I am far from contending that, in such circumstances, with no- 
thing before us that could be considered as indicative of a par- 
ticular design, we should have been led to the conception of a 
Creator. On the contrary, I conceive the abstract arguments 
which have been adduced to show that it is impossible for matter 
to have existed from eternity, — by reasonings on what has been 
termed necessary existence, and the incompatibility of this neces- 
sary existence with the qualities of matter, — to be relics of the 
mere verbal logic of the schools, as little capable of producing 
conviction, as any of the wildest and most absurd of the technical 
scholastic reasonings, on the properties, or supposed properties, 
of entity and nonentity. Eternal existence, the existence of that 
which never had a beginning, must always be beyond our distinct 
comprehension, whatever the eternal object may be, material or 
mental, — and as much beyond our comprehension in the one 
case, as in the other, though it is not impossible for us to doubt, 
that some being, material or mental, must have been eternal, if 
anything exists." 

Sir James Mackintosh, in his dissertation on the progress of 
2* 



18 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 

endeavour to show that evidences of design occur everywhere 
throughout the vast system. Such evidences appear not 
merely in a few thinly-scattered phenomena of a dubious 
aspect, pressed into the service, and constrained to give a re- 
luctant and suspicious testimony; but they abound in every 
province of nature, and upon many occasions force themselves 
upon the notice even of the careless observer. Such a gene- 
ral survey is not necessary to prove the being of Cod ; but it 
will serve to familiarize this great truth to our imagination, 
and accustom us to associate the existence and perfections 
of Deity with the contemplations of his works. Moreover, 
we may often have occasion to remark the indications of wis- 
dom and goodness which appear in every department of nature, 
and the frequent recurrence of these indications cannot fail to 
make a deep impression on the mind, and to fortify it against 
objections to those attributes of the Creator. Before enter- 
ing, however, upon this extensive survey, it is proper to pre- 
mise, 

1. That although we may not understand every phenome- 
non, or be able to point out design in every appearance of 
nature, yet this can form no objection against what we are 
able to explain. Our ability to prove the existence and illus- 
trate the perfections of Deity from the fabric of the universe, 



ethical philosophy, in the seventh edition of the Encyclopedia 
Britannica, speaking of Dr. Clarke, says, " Roused by the pre- 
valence of the doctrines of Spinoza and Hobbes, be endeavoured 
to demonstrate the being 1 and attributes of God, from a few 
axioms and definitions, in the manner of geometry; an attempt 
in which, with all his powers of argument, it must be owned 
that he is compelled sometimes tacitly to assume what the laws 
of reasoning- required him to prove; and that, on the whole, his 
failure may be regarded as a proof that such a mode of argument 
is beyond the faculties of num." 

In a note, Sir James adds, " This admirable person had so 
much candour as in effect to own his failure, and to recur to 
those other arguments in support of this greattruth, which have 
in all ages satisfied the most elevated minds. In Proposition VIII. 
(Being- and Attributes of God, p. 47), which affirms that the first 
cause must be 'intelligent,' (where, as he truly states, 'lies the 
inaiu question between us and the atheists,') he owns, that the 
proposition cannot be demonstrated strictly and properly a 
priori." 

Having mentioned these high authorities, I shall add nothing 
of my own respecting the argument a priori. 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 19 

will be commensurate with our knowledge of creation. We 
may be able to show design in many phenomena; but beings 
of greater knowledge may show wisdom and goodness in 
many more, perhaps even in those very instances which to 
us appear most perplexing and unaccountable. Hence we 
may see the folly of condemning what we do not understand. 
Perceiving so many indications of wise and benevolent con- 
trivance everywhere around us, we ought rather to distrust 
our own knowledge than to deny the existence of wisdom 
and goodness in any particular instance. The celebrated 
Alphonsus X.,king of Leon and Castile, was well acquainted 
with the astronomical doctrines of Ptolemy, but had he no 
conception of the true principles of the solar system. Proud, 
however, of his attainments, and misled by his imaginary 
science, he is said to have exclaimed, that if he had been of 
God's council he would have instructed him better in the 
construction of the universe. What the royal astronomer 
ridiculed was not the work of Deity, but the phantom created 
by his own ignorance. His example should operate as a 
caution to us. 

2. Although I err in my account of one phenomenon, and 
although my argument, in so far as it depends on that erro- 
neous account, must fall to the ground ; yet this, in no degree, 
invalidates arguments founded on facts and appearances cor- 
rectly stated. It is not. here as in the demonstration of a geo- 
metrical theorem, where if one link be broken the demonstra- 
tion fails. In the present case, the reasoning upon every 
fact, or combination of facts, is separate and independent ; 
and, therefore, although in any one instance, the statement 
of fact may be incorrect, and the argument, in so far as it 
depends on that incorrect statement, unsound, yet other facts, 
and arguments founded on them, stand in full force. Every 
fact, or every combination of facts, may be considered inde- 
pendently in the great mass of evidence ; and in proportion 
as we bring forward appearances indicative of design, we 
accumulate arguments in proof of the existence of a design- 
ing cause. If we can show a harmonious combination of all 
the phenomena in order to the construction of one whole, 
then the conclusion which results from the contemplation of 
particular parts will appear with the most attractive lustre 
and commanding majesty. 



( 20 ) 
CHAPTER II. 

THE HUMAN EVE. 

In- glancing at the evidence of design in nature, I shall first 
select a particular instance and explain it at considerable 
length, in order that the force of the evidence may be more 
fully felt. The instance which I select for this purpose is 
the Human Eye; ami in reviewing this organ I shall give a 
description of it, which, though not minute enough for the 
anatomist, may suffice for an exhibition of its construction 
and excellence as an optical instrument. 

The Eye, which communicates so much beauty and viva- 
city to the human countenance, is a small but admirable in- 
strument of vision formed in the bulb of the optic nerve. Its 
position, construction, and the provision made for its adjust- 
ment and preservation, plainly indicate a designing cause. It 
is placed in the upper part of the face, occupying a com- 
manding station ; and, like a sentinel posted on a hill, per- 
ceiving, at a single glance, everything around. It is lodged 
in a strong-hold, or bony cavity, called its orbit ,• and is sur- 
rounded by several parts, which serve either to protect it 
from injury, to assist and facilitate its motions, or to supply 
it wdth moisture. The optic nerves proceed separately from 
the brain : they afterwards unite; then separate again, and 
each of them enters the orbit, on the nasal side, and forms 
the integuments of the eye, so that the coats or tunics of the 
eye are expansions of the optic nerve, or at least membranes 
intimately adhering to it. The optic nerve has two coats, 
one above the other, enclosing its medullary substance. The 
exterior coat is named the aura mater, the interior the pia 
mater. The outer coat of the eye, called the sclerotica, is a 
continuation and expansion of the dura mater, and is white 
and opaque, excepting the anterior part, called the cornea, 
which, unlike the part behind, is transparent, and is fixed in 
the sclerotica, like the jrlass of a watch in its case. 

The Choroides, which lines the sclerotica, may be consi- 
dered as a production of the pia mater. Its anterior part, be- 
hind the cornea, but not close to it, is of a very different 
structure from its posterior part ; and, on account of the va- 
riety of its colours, lias been named the Iris. The Iris, or 
anterior part of the choroides, is an assemblage of muscular 
fibres; some of them tending like the radii of a circle towards 
its centre, and others forming a number of concentric circles 



THE HUMAN EYE. 21 

round the same centre. In the middle of the iris is a per- 
foration known by the name of the pupil, which is diminish- 
ed by the contraction of the circular fibres of the iris, when a 
very luminous object is presented to the eye; and dilated by 
the contraction of the radial fibres, for the admission of a 
greater number of rays in a faint light. Even they who do 
not admit the fibrous structure and muscularity of the iris 
cannot deny its contractibility, which they ascribe to its sym- 
pathy with the retina. But, as the contractibility is unques- 
tionable, a dispute about the manner in which it is produced 
does not affect the argument resulting from it. 

At the anterior border of the choroides, there is a ring of 
sensible thickness, named the ciliary ligament, from which 
proceed numerous productions called ciliary processes. The 
posterior surface of the iris, the ciliary processes, and part of 
the choroides, are spread over with a black mucus, which 
absorbs the lateral rays, and contributes to distinct vision. 
The medullary portion of the optic nerve, in dilating, forms a 
white and very thin membrane, or congeries of nervous ter- 
minations, applied upon the choroides and named the retina; 
upon which, according to the general opinion, the object is 
painted. In these coats or tunics are set three transparent 
humours or lenses, of different refractive powers ; and the 
whole forms the organ of vision in the human body. 

The foremost of the humours is the aqueous. It is placed 
immediately behind the cornea, and occupies the whole space 
between it and the crystalline humour, both before and be- 
hind the iris. The aqueous humour has the transparency of 
the purest water, but it is not altogether so liquid. Its spe- 
cific gravity is rather greater than that of water. It has been 
remarked that notwithstanding the great fluidity of the aque- 
ous humour, and its exposure to the cold, it does not freeze. 
Behind the aqueous humour is placed a double convex lens, 
having its axis corresponding with the centre of the pupil. 
It is somewhat more convex towards the bottom of the eye 
than in front. It is called the crystalline humour; and appears 
to be composed of a great number of very thin laminae, and 
of extremely minute fibres, very transparent and closely 
united together. It is tolerably solid, and both its specific 
gravity and refractive power are greater than those of either 
of the other two humours of the eye. It is attached to the 
ciliary ligament, by means of the fibres of which it can, 
probably, be altered in a small degree in position, and per- 
haps in figure also. The crystalline is placed behind the 
aqueous, and in front of the vitreous humour; in which last it 



22 THE HUMAN EVE. 

is sot liko a jewel in a ring. The vitreous humour, situate 
at the back part of the socket, occupies about three-fourths 
of the globe of the eye. It is of the form of a jelly, colour- 
less, and of trrcat transparency. Its specific gravity is little 
more than that of the aqueous humour; therefore, as, gene- 
rally speaking, the refractive powers of different mediums are 
as their densities, the refractive powers of these two humours 
are not very different. Each of the humours is contained 
within its own membrane, which is very delicate and equally 
transparent with the humour itself. At the back of the whole 
is the retina. 

The eye, thus formed, is provided with muscles which 
move it in all directions, and accommodate its focal distance 
to different objects, in a degree of perfection incomparably 
superior to the mechanism of the most ingeniously mounted 
telescope. By the action of six muscles, it has not only the 
horizontal and vertical motions, but it can be turned to any 
oblique angle with the rapidity of lightning. The eyeball is 
much less than the cavity in which it is lodged ; but the 
interval is filled up with cellular substance, furnishing a 
soft and warm bed to the eye, and facilitating its motions. 
Besides, by means of the lachrymal gland, situate between 
the ball of the eye and the upper vault of the orbit, on the 
temporal side, the eye is supplied with a perpetual fountain 
for moistening and keeping it clean : the superfluous mois- 
ture passes through a perforation into the nostrils, and is 
drained off. The eyelids, in connexion with the bony cavity 
in which the ball is lodged, form a soft and strong covering 
to the eye, and can be instantaneously put on or withdrawn. 
The eyelashes serve as a protection against insects and mi- 
nute bodies floating in the air : they also give warning of ap- 
proaching danger, and help to guard against it ; and they mo- 
derate the rays of light in their passage to the eye. 

Observe, then, what a variety of circumstances, and what 
an exact combination and nice adjustment of these circum- 
stances there must be in order to distinct vision ; and after 
attentively considering the whole, nothing, I think, but blind 
stupidity or obstinate perversity, can deny design and skilful 
contrivance in the structure of the eye. How happens it that 
the cornea is transparent, and not opaque like the sclerotica, 
of which it is the continuation'? If it were opaque there 
would be no vision ; and I see no way of accounting for its 
transparency, but by acknowledging a wise designing cause. 
How shall we account for the transparent part being placed 
in front, and not towards the bottom of the socket? Light 



THE HUMAN EYE. 23 

does not give transparency to the cornea, nor does the cornea 
give existence to light ; they exist independently of each other : 
yet between the two there is an unquestionable relation, as 
much so as between the window and the room, the fire-place 
and the chimney, the lock and the key. 

How happens it that the iris is of a different structure from 
the rest of the choroides, of which it is apparently the con- 
tinuation : that the iris has the perforation called the pupil, 
and that it is not a continuous envelope like the cornea : that 
the centre of the pupil corresponds with the axes of the crys- 
talline lens : and that the iris has a power of contraction and 
dilatation, either lessening or enlarging the pupil according 
to circumstances ? A change in any of those conditions would 
be fatal or highly injurious to vision. The light does not 
create the pupil, yet the pupil is formed for the admission of 
light. Light does not confer on the iris the power of contrac- 
tion or dilatation, yet the pupil has the power of ad justing itself 
to the quantity of light. If it be alleged that the light irritates 
the eye, and by that means occasions the contraction, still we 
may inquire who so organized the pupil that it should be af- 
fected in such a manner by the action of light; who con- 
trived the mechanism by which the changes in the sizes of the 
pupil are effected 1 How shall we account for the ciliary liga- 
ment and its processes, but by resorting to a wise designing 
causa, which has in this way provided for the adjustment of 
the crystalline lens 1 Who provided the retina, like a fine 
white canvas, to receive the picture 1 How shall we account 
for lenses of different refractive powers to correct the chroma- 
tic aberration 1 Light did not create these several lenses, 
for they were created ere light shone upon them ; nor did 
these lenses establish the law by which rays of light are re- 
fracted from the straight line in passing obliquely through 
mediums of different densities, and by which some of the 
rays of the solar beam are more refrangible than others ; yet 
the lenses of the eye are accurately adapted to the optical fact 
or law. How happens it that the lenses are so exactly ad- 
justed that the rays form a distinct picture on the retina? If 
the configuration or refractive powers of the lenses had been 
such as to bring the rays to a focus sooner, or if the retina 
had been placed more forward, or at the smallest distance 
farther back in the socket ; in any of these cases vision would 
have been indistinct. But the place of the retina is exactly ad- 
justed to the focal distance of the lenses. 

By fixing a lens in a hole of the window-shutter of a dark- 
ened room, we see an inverted picture of external objects, 



24 THE HUMAN IVF.. 

formed on a white sheet of paper, behind the lens. But, in or- 
der to have the picture distinct, we must move the paperback- 
wards and forwards till we find the exact focal distance. The 
retina, which corresponds to the sheet oi' paper, is placed ex- 
actly at the due distance. 

The eve is convex and not a plane. If it had been a plane, 
the Held of vision must have been extremely limited. But 
the most advantageous of all forms is adopted ; and I know 
of no rational way of accounting for this, but by having re- 
course to a designing cause. In order, however, to have a 
fuller view of the subject, we shall compare the eye, in some 
particulars, with a telescope ; and give a more copious illus- 
tration df some things already mentioned. 

1. Let us consider the eye as an achromatic instrument. 
Light moves in straight lines ; but in passing obliquely out 
of one medium into another of different density, it is refracted 
towards the perpendicular in passing into a denser medium, 
and from it in passing into a medium more rare. Besides, the 
white light issuing from the sun is not a homogeneous fluid, 
but consists of several differently-coloured rays ; and these 
rays are not equally refrangible, the red being the least re- 
frangible, and the violet the most so. Unless, however, these 
refractions be corrected, tie re eannol be distinct and colour- 
less vision. Such is the fact in nature. How, then, is the 
matter managed in the eye ? The refractions areoorroeteH by 
lenses of different refractive powers, so that all the rays meet 
in a focus on the retina, and there delineate a distinct and 
achromatic image, of the object from which the rays proceed. 
How is the difficulty managed in the telescope] This was 
long a desideratum in natural science, and exercised the ge- 
nius and industry of the most distinguished philosophers. 

The telescope, by the prismatic action of the lenses of which 
it was composed gave the objecl a coloured appearance about 
the edges, and consequently presented an indistinct image. 
This was a great delict, and it was of much importance to 
remedj it. The celeb-ated Mr. James Gregory perceived 
that the eye had the same difficulty to encounter. How, he 
asked, is it surmounted there 1 He perceived that this was 
accomplished by a combination of lenses of different refrac- 
tive powers. Hence that ingenious philosopher was led to 
throw out a hint concerning the construction of what has since 
been called the achromatic telescope. The subject employed 
.1 powers of Newton and the vigorous mind of Euler, 
and the execution of the plan has conferred a lasting celebri- 
ty on the name of Dollond. Here, then, we find Gregory, 



THE HUMAN EYE. 25 

Newton, Euler, Dollond, names of high distinction (and many- 
more might be mentioned), turning their minds to the for- 
mation of the achromatic telescope, acknowledging the struc- 
ture of the eye to be their guide, and yet employing much in- 
genuity, and performing many experiments, ere the last of 
them happily succeeded in accomplishing the object in view. 
Now the cases under consideration arc precisely parallel ; the 
difficulty to be surmounted is the same. Shall we, then, ad- 
mit design and contrivance in the one case, and deny them in 
the other? Shall we admit that Gregory, Newton, Euler, 
and Dollond, were designing and contriving beings, in their 
schemes and efforts to construct an achromatic telescope; and 
yet contend that the eye, which was their model, was formed 
without design and contrivance'? Shall we admit design and 
contrivance in the imitation, and yet deny them in the pattern 1 
This were absurd in the extreme. In the structure of the eye 
design and contrivance are obvious, and that organ could not 
have been formed but by a designing and contriving Being. 

2. In using a telescope, for instance a three feet refractor, 
if we wish to try the powers of the instrument in reading a 
book, we may have distinct vision at the distance of twenty 
or twenty-five yards. But, if Ave turn the telescope, in the 
same state in which we have, been reading the book, upon an 
object a mile or two distant, we see nothing. In order to 
have distinct vision, we must, either by managing the tube 
with our hand, or by the action of a screw, adjust the instru- 
ment to the new distance. In what way soever we perform 
the operation, it requires time and observation to find (he focus. 
But the eye adjusts itself in a moment, whether the object 
which we look at be six inches from it, or six thousand times 
that distance. Now, is there design and contrivance in form- 
ing the adjusting screws of the telescope to fit it to the focal 
distance 1 No man in his senses denies it. How, then, can 
any man in his senses deny design and contrivance in the 
mechanism of the eye, by which the same end is accomplished ; 
and not only accomplished, but accomplished in a far more 
easy and expeditious manner than in the telescope 1 For no de- 
gree of practice or dexterity in the use of the instrument, will 
enable us to adjust its focus to different distances, with the 
same ease and quickness as we do in the eye. If design and 
contrivance be admitted in the one case, they cannot be denied 
in the other, but by obstinate and irrational perversity. 

3. The form of the eye indicates a wise designing cause. 
It is of a spherical figure, and by this figure several important 
ends are answered far better than they could have been by 

3 



26 THE HUMAN EYE. 

any other. It affords the most convenient lodgment for the 
humours of the eye,and gives the largest field of vision. If 
the from d' the eye had been a flat surface, there could have 
been no distinct vision, bemuse all the parts of it could not 
l i;ur been at the due focal distance from the lenses ; some 
parts must have been too near, or some too far off. Besides, 
it is obvious that the spherical figure of the eye is best 
adapted for motion in all directions. We may farther remark, 

thai the Optic nerve enters the eve, not at the bottom of the 

socket, bul en the nasal side of it. This contributes to dis- 
tinct vision, and may fairly be considered as an evidence ot 
design. . . , 

4. The eye occupies a most commanding position, and sur- 
vey's with ease everything around. It could have been sta- 
tioned in no other part of the body with equal advantage. If 
it had been placed in the occiput, the form and articulation 
of the arms and legs would not have harmonized with it ; but, 
at present, they are fitted for acting in the direction in which 
the eye sees. The eyes were formed before the light shone 
upon them, and the limbs before they had room for action; 
yet they are admirably adapted to each other. They exhibit 
a striking instance of relation and prospective contrivance. 
Indeed, relation and prospective contrivance meet us in al- 
most every department of nature, whether we attend to the 
structure of animals, or to the combinations and adjustments 
of the different parts of the universe. Thus the eye occupies 
its due place in the body, as part of one harmonious whole, 
and all the members are fitted for co-operating with it. It is 
stationed near the brain, and communicates with that great 
source of sensation and motion by means of the optic nerve. 

5. We have an evidence, not of design only, but of good- 
ness also, in the number of the eyes. They are two. In 
this way we can take in a larger angle than if we had one 
eye only; and although one- be injured, we are not entirely 
deprived of the use of this cheering organ. And we may ob- 
serve the consummate skill of Him who formed the eye, in 
this circumstance, thai although an object be seen with both 
eyes yet it appears single, perhaps because painted on the 
corresponding part of each retina, or perhaps because the 
nerves unite; but in what manner soever we account tor it, 
the fact is certain ; and the argument resulting from it is not 
affected by any doubts respecting the manner in which it is 
accomplished. Although the picture of the object is inverted 
on the retina, vet we see objects erect; and this, I appre- 
b, ml, happens by a law of our nature antecedent to e\ r n- 



THE HUMAN EYE. 27 

ence. The rays of light pass to the retina on optical princi- 
ples ; but we know not in what way impressions are made on 
the mind. It may he added, that the eyeball is of a commo- 
dious size, serving the purposes of distinct vision, and yet 
not exposing a large surface to the injuries to which such a 
delicate organ is liable. All the objects in the large field 
which the eye takes in are accurately represented on the 
retina. The whole scenery of some miles is painted on a 
canvas of an inch diameter ; and yet how distinct and cor- 
rect is the picture ! This circumstance bears a strong testi- 
mony, not only to the existence, but also to the wisdom and 
goodness of the Creator. 

6. The motions of the eye cannot fail to attract the notice 
of every attentive observer and inquirer. These motions are 
performed by the action of six muscles, four of which are 
straight, and two oblique. The straight muscles elevate or 
depress the eye, turn it in towards the nose, or out towards 
the temple ; the oblique muscles perform the more complex 
motions. The origin and insertion of those muscles, and 
their comparative strength, are fitted with the most consum- 
mate mechanical skill for turning the eye in all directions, 
with the utmost ease and rapidity ; and if the nice adaptation 
of means to the accomplishment of an end be a proof of de- 
sign, the muscles of the eye demonstrate the existence of a 
designing cause. 

From this eursory view of the eye, it obviously appears to 
be an organ of most exquisite workmanship. Its numerous 
parts are adapted to each other with the most skilful contriv- 
ance and minute precision, and the whole serves the noblest 
and most beneficial purposes. Take the eye altogether, its 
position, its ingenious and accurate construction as an instru- 
ment of vision, its instantaneous adjustment of itself to dif- 
ferent distances, its capacity of accommodating itself to dif- 
ferent degrees of light : the ease, rapidity, and variety of its 
motions, and the provision made for keeping it clean and 
safe ; and it plainly demonstrates the existence of an intelli- 
gent first cause. I hesitate not to affirm that, although there 
were not another mark of design in the universe, yet the ap- 
pearance of even a single eye would be an irrefragable evi- 
dence of a designing cause ; for nothing that we either see or 
know, nothing in our own experience or in the authenticated 
testimony of others, nothing resulting from consciousness, 
perception, or reasoning, gives us the least ground for believ- 
ing that even a single eye could be formed in millions of 
ages, by any casual combinations of matter. Every eye, then, 



28 THE HUMAN EYE. 

bears a strong testimony to the existence of a wise designing 
cause. 

But supposing that one eye might have been produced by 
casual combinations, how shall we account for the appear- 
ance of a second ! There is just as much difficulty in account- 
ing for the second as for the first, and as much difficulty in 
accounting for the third as for the second, and so on for 
every eye that is in the universe ; for the existence of one 
eye is neither a necessary nor a physical cause of the exist- 
ence of another, and it is not in the nature of chance to esta- 
blish a series. There are. then, as many distinct witnesses 
of the existence of an intelligent first cause as there are eyes 
in the world. And let me add, that it is a most uuphiloso- 
phical, yea an absurd subterfuge, to allege that one being 
with eyes has produced another being with eyes, and that 
the series has gone on from eternity. This can be consider- 
ed only as an acknowledgment on the part of the atheist 
that he knows nothing of the matter, and as a silly attempt 
to plunge into darkness, and conceal himself from pursuit. 
But, go where he will, he cannot escape from the dilliculty. 
Every step that he retires it still presses upon him. It pur- 
sues him through eternity, and every moment treads on his 
heels, with the same force as in the first instance. Still a 
a voice sounds in his ear, " Here is design, where is the de- 
signing cause 1 Here is contrivance, where is the contriver! 
Point out the planning mind ; show the hand that with such 
dexterity has adapted means to the attainment of an end." 
Go where he will, he has not accounted for the first eye ; he 
has not accounted either for the origin or continuation of the 
series ; and in no way can they be accounted for, but by the 
admission of a powerful, wise, and good first cause. 

We give much credit to the artist who makes a few good 
instruments. The fame of Dollond as an optician is high, 
and not undeservedly so; although causes over which he had 
no control contributed to aid his genius and exalt his fame; 
for we art> told that the glass employed by him in the con- 
struction of his best telescopes was a fortunate treasure, all 
of one melting. But what should we have thought of his 
genius and art, if he had made telescopes which produced 
other telescopes, of undiminished excellence, through an un- 
limited series ! We should have pronounced them above all 
encomium. What then shall we say of Him who formed 
the eye, and established the law by which a vast succession 
Is generated 1 Must not he be a designing Beinsrl 
Yea, must he not be unspeakably powerful, wise, and good] 



GENERAL VIEW OF THE HUMAN BODY. 29 

If I were brought into a court, before an enlightened jury, 
where I should lose my cause unless I could adduce some 
plain mark of intelligence and design in the works of nature, 
I should boldly contend, after bringing forward the human 
eye, with all its apparatus, that I had made good my cause, 
and should confidently expect a verdict in my favour; and 
such a verdict, any jury, competent to decide upon the sub- 
ject, would assuredly return. 

How the eye conveys sensation to the mind I cannot tell. 
If in this there be machanism, it is such a mechanism as 
eludes our notice and defies our investigation. All sensation 
is conveyed to the mind by an unknown influence of the 
nerves. If the optic, or any other nerve distributed over an 
organ of sensation, be cut or rendered paralytic, the animal 
instantly loses that particular sense. The fact is fully esta- 
blished by observation and experiment. But how the nerves, 
which are perfectly similar in every part of the body, should 
convey to the mind feelings so different, when distributed 
over the eye, the ear, the tongue, and the nose, is what we 
can neither understand nor explain. Here reason and philo- 
sophy are set at defiance. Indeed, in everything around us, 
we may proceed a certain length with success in our inqui- 
ries ; but we soon reach a limit which neither our industry 
nor ingenuity can pass. We perceive an end accomplished ; 
but Iww,we are often unable fully to explain. Some parts of 
the process elude our utmost penetration, and on those parts 
we can pass no judgment. But a good effect is produced. 
The means, so far as we can trace them, are admirably adapt- 
ed to the end. In such circumstances, it is truly character- 
istic of a fool to condemn the whole, because he can under- 
stand and explain a part only ; or to deny design, because he 
cannot fully trace the mechanism throughout the whole 
process. 



CHAPTER III. 

GENERAL VIEW OF THE HUMAN BODY. 

We might now proceed to the organs of the other senses, 
and show that in them there is a wise adaptation of means to 
the attainment of beneficial ends ; that the ear is an excellent 
instrument of hearing, and that design plainly appears in the 
senses of smelling, tasting, and feeling. We might also con- 
sider the different members of the body ; as the hand, which 
3* 



30 GENERAL VIEW 

Aristotle pronounced the "organ of organs. " Its excellence 
depends in no small degree on the position, strength, and ac- 
tion of the thumb, which can be brought into a state of oppo- 
sition to the lingers, and hence is of great use in laying hold 
of bodies. We might also show that the foot is well fitted 
for the support and progression oi' the body, and exhibits a 
noble display of benign intention and skilful contrivance. 
But instead of entering on such an extensive field, we shall 
merely take a general view of the human body. 

The bones, amounting, in a full grown person, to about two 
hundred and forty, constitute the frame of the machine; and, 
in order to retain them in their places, and enable them to 
perform their several functions, they are strongly and inge- 
niously bound together by elastic ligaments, membranes, or 
muscles, according to the several situations and uses of the 
parts. Some of the joints have a free, easy, and obvious mo- 
tion; while that of others is less evident. In the joints, the 
articulating surfaces, being exposed to friction, are lined with 
a smooth elastic substance, named cartilage, which is lubri- 
cated with synovia, as the wheels of machinery are with oil. 
Now, if the oiling of the axles of machinery be the effect of 
design, we think it unreasonable to deny design in the lubri- 
cation of the joints. 

The articulations of the several joints are very different; 
and, in every instance, are happily suited to their places and 
purposes. Let us, for a moment, glance at the spine. How 
different is its formation from that of the thigh bone, and its 
articulations from that of the hip or knee joint! And is not 
design, yea, are not wisdom and goodness obvious in the 
structure of each, and in the difference between them'? Had 
the spine been formed of a single bone, like the thigh, it 
would have been much more easily fractured than at present, 
and utterly incapable of incurvation. Had it consisted of 
only two or three bones, articulated like the hip or like the 
knee joint, the spinal marrow would have been bruised at 
every joint, and the motion could not have been so free, nor 
the pillar so strong as it is. The spine consists of twenty- 
four pieces, called vertebrae, with cavities and protuberances 
for locking into each other, so as to prevent luxation and yet 
provide for the flexion of the body. The spinal marrow, 
which is of essential importance to life, is lodged in the ca- 
vity secure from injury; and corresponding notches in the 
vertebra 1 leave a passage for the entrance of the blood-vessels, 
and for the departure of t lie nerves, which proceed from the 
spinal marrow to the different parts of the body. 



OF THE HUMAN BODY. 31 

This bony column, which thus affords a canal through which 
the spinal marrow, the production of the brain, proceeds in 
security towards the extremities, also supports the head ; 
where the brain, the throne of sensation, motion, and intel- 
lect, is lodged in the a-aniu/u, as in a fortress skilfully and 
artificially constructed, and the organs of seeing, hearing, 
smelling, and tasting, are placed like so many watchmen on 
the walls, while the sense of feeling is diffused over the 
whole body. The spine also serves to connect the framework 
of the body. In short, let any person attend to the way in 
which the different bones are united, and consider how both 
their forms and articulations are varied and adapted to diffe- 
rent situations and offices, all advantageous to the strength 
and motion of the frame, and he will feel himself constrained 
to admit the existence of a wise designing cause. 

If the bones evince intelligence, gracious design, and skil- 
ful contrivance, the muscles and tendons also bear testimony 
to the being of God. The muscles act by contractions and 
relaxations ; and the insertion, the action, and strength of 
each is nicely proportioned to its place and office in the body. 
The action of most of the muscles is subject to the will; 
and, at pleasure, we can put them in motion, or allow them 
to remain in a state of rest. This indeed is not the case with 
them all; but design, and wisdom, and goodness, are equal- 
ly obvious, whether their action be voluntary or involuntary. 
Several motions and processes go on within us, without any 
volition on our part. The action of the heart and of the 
lungs, the circulation of the blood, the digestion of the food, 
the peristaltic motion of the viscera, and the various secre- 
tions, go on when we are asleep as well as when we are 
awake, and do not depend on the will. This is a wise and 
gracious provision, for these motions and processes are neces- 
sary to life and health; but, if these nice and complicated 
movements had been dependent on the will they must have 
occupied much of our attention; in many instances they must 
have been but partially performed ; and in sleep they must 
have been neglected and suspended. Therefore, by a wise 
appointment, these vital motions are involuntarily performed. 
But other motions depend on the will, and in them wisdom 
and goodness are as conspicuous as in those that are involun- 
tary. At pleasure we can open our eyes, to see the light, or 
shut them on the approach of danger: we close them invo 
luntarily in sleep. By an act of my will I can speak or be 
silent; rise up or sit down; walk or stand still. 

The body is nourished by the circulation of the blood, 



32 GENERAL VIEW 

which, flowing from the heart as the fountain, like a genial 
and fertilizing stream, conveys life and nutriment to the whole 
system. The heart is a hollow muscle, of a conical shape, 
which involuntarily contract- and relaxes more than sixty 
times in a minute. It consists of four distinct cavities: the 
two largest are called ventricles; the two less auricles. The 
right ventricle, hy its contractions, propels the hlood, by the 
pulmonary artery and its numerouus ramifications, through 
the Lungs, where it throws out carbonic acid and takes in ca- 
loric; a process essential to life. The blood on leaving the 
lungs passes into the left ventricle, which sends it out, by 
proper arteries, to carry the vital aliment through the system. 

The blood is undergoing, every moment, a great change in 
the lungs ; and the heart acts as a forcing-pump in propelling 
it into the arteries. But the circulation does not depend on 
the propulsive action of the heart alone : it is aided by a pe- 
ristaltic motion in the arteries, which are of a muscular struc- 
ture, and much stronger than the veins, by which it is con- 
ducted back to the heart. Both the arteries and veins are 
furnished with valves. The arterial valves are so constructed ■ 
as to allow a tree passage of the blood from the heart towards 
the extremities, but to prevent its return by the same chan- 
nel. In the veins, the valves are so formed as to permit the 
blood to flow freely from the extremities towards the heart, 
but to hinder it from moving in the opposite direction. These 
valves are most numerous in the small branches, where the 
impetus of the blood is least. In the structure of the valves 
of the blood-vessels, design and contrivance are obvious. It 
was by attending to this circumstance that Harvey was led 
to the discovery of the interesting fact of the circulation of 
the blood, by which he has acquired a lasting celebrity. Can 
it then be imagined for a moment, that the peculiar structure 
of the arterial and venous valves, by observing and reason- 
ing on which that distinguished physician was led to the dis- 
covery of a great fact in nature, happened without design and 
skilful contrivance"? This imagination cannot be entertained 
but by the stupid credulity of atheism. 

The blood, sent from the left ventricle of the heart, and 
conveyed through the system by the branches and capillary, 
ramifications of the arteries, returns by the veins. The ar- 
teries, in proceeding from the heart, branch out and become 
smaller and smaller; and the veins, in advancing towards it, 
gradually unite and are enlarged, till the whole of those re- 
turning channels, by reiterated unions, are formed into one 
large trunk, through which they pour their contents into the 



OF THE HUMAN BODY. 33 

right ventricle of the heart. The blood, having thus com- 
pleted the circulation, instantly sets out again on its tour, to 
imbibe, in passing through the lungs, a fresh portion of vital 
aliment, and in its progress to diffuse it through the body. 
The blood-vessels are so wonderfully ramified that scarcely 
a spot can be punctured but the blood will appear. 

The whole of the blood, however, does not perform this 
circulation. The ultimate ramifications of the arteries, in 
many instances, are so minute as not to afford a passage to 
the red parts of the blood, but transmit the thin and pellucid 
part of it only; and those ramifications, instead of commu- 
nicating with the veins, lodge their contents in bones, mus- 
cles, ligaments, and other parts of the body, where, by an in- 
scrutable process named assimilation, this fluid is converted 
into a substance of the same specific character and properties 
with the parts to which it is conveyed. On seeing corn, 
fruit, herbs, and roots, in the various stages of their growth, 
who would imagine that they could be changed into blood, 
and flesh, and bones % The process carried on in this secret 
laboratory eludes our investigation ; but it indicates the hand 
of a wise and mighty Chemist, who constituted the wonder- 
ful apparatus by which the surprising change is accomplished, 
and endued all its parts with a suitable activity. Besides, 
these minute vessels pour their contents into all the cavities, 
and into the glands, where they are afterwards changed into 
fluids of different qualities, and which answer different pur- 
poses. Some of the glands prepare a fluid for lubricating 
the joints, and the parts in motion; some furnish fluids to 
promote digestion, and to assist in the preparation of aliment ; 
some yield a fluid to protect the skin, and to preserve it in a 
proper state for performing its several offices; some give a 
fluid which is the means of continuing the species; and some 
prepare a fluid for nourishing the infant after its birth. 

But the whole contents of these capillary arteries which 
wander from the circulation, cannot be allowed continually 
to accumulate in the bones, muscles, and other parts to 
which they are conveyed : accordingly we meet with a set 
of vessels, w T hich, on account of the transparency of the fluid 
which they contain, are called lymphatics. They begin from 
surfaces and cavities in all parts of the body as absorbents; 
and, like the veins, they form, by the union of many smaller 
vessels, large tubes, and terminate in two trunks, which 
empty their contents into the veins a little before the veins 
enter the heart. Thus the lymphatics throw back into the 
circulation part of the blood which has not been taken up in 



34 GENERAL VIEW 

the process of assimilation. What is unfit for being returned 
into the circulation is carried off by vessels which open ex- 
ternally upon the surface of the skin, or on the internal sur- 
face of the lungs, or in the kidneys and intestinal canal. By 
these outlets, by perspiration, by exhalation from the lungs, 
by the urinary and feecal passages, everything unfit for re- 
maining in the system is drained off. 

The lungs, which are so essential to life, consist of different 
lobes, and are composed of a great number of membranous 
cells, and of numerous ramifications of blood-vessels, nerves, 
and lymphatics, all connected by cellular substance. The 
cells, which constitute the greatest part of the bulk of the 
lungs, are irregular in their shape; they are very small, and 
have been estimated at a fiftieth part of an inch in diameter. 
The number of them is very great; but neither their number 
nor dimensions can be accurately determined. It is evident, 
however, that in extent they greatly exceed the surface of the 
body. 

The cells are closely connected and freely communicate 
with each other, but have no communication with the cel- 
lular substance which unites and strengthens them. From 
the cells there arise small hollow tubes, called bronchise, 
which are enlarged by gradual junctions, till, at the upper 
part of the thorax, all the tubes on each side unite in 
one ; and the two branches joining together from the wind- 
pipe. The numberless ramifications of the pulmonary artery 
and vein are spread over every part of the cellular substance 
of the lungs, and carry the circulating fluid throughout the 
whole of those spongy bodies, so that the blood in the ves- 
sels and the air in the cells are brought into such a state of 
contiguity that they can act on each other. Each of the ribs 
is moveable between the bodies of the vertebrae with which 
it is connected ; and the breast bone, by its connexion with 
the ribs, partakes of their motion ; consequently the cavity of 
the chest, in which the lungs are lodged, is susceptible of 
considerable dilatation and contraction ; and these changes in 
its dimensions are much assisted by the contractions of the 
diaphragm, or by the action of the abdominal muscles press- 
ing the bowels upwards. Anatomical minuteness is not the 
object of the present treatise, and therefore what has now 
been said may suffice for a general account of the organ of 
respiration; and the structure and functions of this organ 
exhibit decisive evidence, not only of design, but of admira» 
ble contrivance also. 

An animal which has once respired cannot exist without 



OF THE HUMAN BODY. 35 

the continuance of the process. Some animals need more at- 
mospheric air, some less; but none can live long without it. 
The assertions that can be opposed to this fact are few and 
doubtful. We have been told of serpents and worms that 
have been found alive in the heart of stones, and of toads en- 
closed in trees and rocks. But, admitting this, it is obvious 
that there must have been some communication between the 
external air and the bed of the animal. Air insinuates itself 
into the cell constructed by the mason-bee for the lodgment 
of its eggs, although that cell seems hermetically sealed ; and 
there is every reason to believe that it likewise penetrates to 
the animal embedded in a rock or tree. Experiment shows 
that this is not mere supposition, for the toad expires under 
the exhausted receiver of an air-pump ; and, if put into a ves- 
sel large enough to contain it with ease, but which is herme- 
tically sealed, it does not long survive. The frog leaps away 
wanting its head or its heart, and it survives the loss of the 
greater part of its spinal marrow. Eels and serpents can 
move for some time even after evisceration. Snails and 
chameleons can live long on air alone. But the life of all 
animals is soon extinguished on the exclusion of air. 

Such is the fact in nature ; and accordingly, every animated 
being, in one way or another, can imbibe or absorb atmo- 
spheric air. What is the provision made in man for the ac- 
complishment of this essential purpose? He has lungs, 
consisting as we have already seen of a vast multitude of 
communicating cells, for the reception of the air, and by 
means of them that invisible fluid is brought into such a state 
of contiguity with the blood that they can act upon each 
other ; and by a process, which the present state of our know- 
ledge does not enable us fully to explain, the blood extracts 
a vital nutriment from the air, or the air carries off' a delete- 
rious substance from the blood, or both. The lungs instantly 
expel the portion of air that has thus discharged its office, 
and take in a fresh portion to pass through a similar process. 
This inspiration and expiration are essential to human life. 
It may be added that while air thus taken into the lungs sup- 
ports life, if it be thrown into the vascular system it quickly 
brings on agitation, convulsions, and death. 

It is now a well known fact that atmospheric air is not a 
homogeneous fluid, but consists of three different gases, 
called oxygen, nitrogen, and carbonic acid, which though of 
different specific gravities are always found together; and an 
atmosphere thus constituted is the best fitted for supporting 
animal and vegetable life. The lungs did not form the at- 



36 GENERAL VIEW 

mosphere, nor did the atmosphere create the lungs, yet the 
organ of the body and the external element are admirably 
adapted to each other; the lungs to bring the air into a state 
of contiguity with the blood, and the blood and air to exercise 
a reciprocal action. There is always a large proportion of 
blood in the lungs, and consequently in a state of contiguity 
with the air in the cells. The blood performs a complete 
circulation in a short time, and during that space the whole 
of it passes through the lungs. 

It is not long since respiration was in any degree under- 
stood, and still there remains much room for investigation 
and discovery. But we know that the air undergoes a great 
change in the lungs, and produces a remarkable effect on the 
blood. Air does not issue from the lungs in the same state 
in which it entered them. Its quantity is somewhat dimi- 
nished ; it has lost a portion of its oxygen, in the room of 
which it has gained about eight per cent, in bulk of carbonic 
acid, thrown out probably from the exhalent vessels of the 
lungs; and it is loaded with aqueous vapour. Besides, it is 
a well known fact that arterial and venous blood are not of the 
same colour. The blood has more of a vermilion redness on 
leaving the heart to proceed in the circulation than on its re- 
turn to the right ventricle. This change of colour is produced 
in the lungs, and is occasioned perhaps by the ejection of car- 
bon, and the absorption of the disengaged caloric of the 
oxygen that has disappeared in that organ. Whatever theory 
we adopt with respect to respiration, whether we consider it 
as acting by absorption or exhalation ; as the means of im- 
parting a vital nutriment, or of carrying off something which, 
if allowed to remain in the system, would almost instantane- 
ously extinguish life; or whether we combine these notions, 
in any case we see a grand purpose accomplished. We 
clearly see the end, although the physiological process be 
not fully understood. 

Respiration is likely the chief cause of animal heat, for 
the temperature of arterial blood is higher than that of venous; 
the temperature of the left side of the heart than that of the 
right; and the temperature diminishes as the distance from 
the heart increases. That atmospheric air contains a consi- 
derable portion of caloric is no hypothetical assumption. It 
can be demonstrated ; for air, when rapidly compressed, 
gives out both light and caloric ; and an instrument has been 
constructed for procuring fire by this process. It is probable 
that the portion of oxygen gas which disappears in respira- 
tion is converted into the carbonic acid which is thrown out 



OF THE HUMAN RODY. 37 

of the lungs. But the specific caloric of this last is greatly 
inferior to that of the former; consequently a large quantity 
of heat is set free in the lungs when the conversion of gases 
takes place. This liberated heat passes into the blood, and 
is given out by it in the circulation. Thus a quantity of 
caloric is disengaged in the lungs in every respiration, and 
by means of the blood is diffused throughout the bod)-, -warm- 
ing and enlivening it. What wonderful adaptations are here 
presented ! What a gracious provision for supporting human 
life! 

There seems to be a correspondence between the respira- 
tion and comparative heat of different animals. The temper- 
ature of fish which occidate the blood by gills, is not much 
above that of the surrounding medium. In man, the ordina- 
ry temperature near the surface of the body is about 96° Fah- 
renheit ; and in most of the mammalia it is somewhat higher. 
In birds, the lungs of which are differently constituted, and 
much larger in proportion to the size of the animal, the tem- 
perature is still higher than in the mammalia. We may add 
that birds are exceedingly delicate as to air, and die in air 
where a mouse lives without any perceptible inconveniency. 

The fetus in utero is nourished by the respiratory organs of 
the parent. Any interruption between those organs and the 
fetus would soon prove fatal to the latter, on the same princi- 
ple as the stoppage of respiration, after the animal has once 
breathed, soon extinguishes life. The respiratory organs are 
provided before they are needed, and are ready to act as soon 
as there is occasion for them. In respiration we have both 
the planning and the execution of an extensive and complica- 
ted process. AVe see wonderful combinations and adapta- 
tions in order to the accomplishment of a beneficial end ; 
and, by the constitution of our minds, we are constrained to 
acknowledge design and skilful contrivance in the combina- 
tions and adaptations. 

In connexion with respiration, we may take notice of the 
voice and the faculty of speech. The principal organ of the 
voice is the larynx : if it be injured, the air passes through 
the windpipe without emitting any sound. Besides the larynx, 
the org-ans of speech are the tongue, palate, and teeth. With 
what promptitude does the tongue obey the understanding and 
will, and communicate a vast variety of impulses to the air ! 
Alphabetical writing, in which we paint sounds, and express 
all our thoughts by the varied combination of a few arbitrary 
signs, is justly accounted an astonishing invention. It is a 
brilliant display of design and skilful contrivance. But is 
i 



38 GENERAL VIEW 

not that combination of organs by which we readily utter such 
a variety of articulate sounds far more wonderful 1 How great 
is that wisdom which formed the organs of speech ! 

The continual drain by perspiration, and by the urinary and 
faecal passages, requires a constant supply. This supply is 
bountifully furnished by nature around us ; appetite tells us 
when it is needed, and what quantity is sufficient, and we are 
provided with a wonderful apparatus for its reception and 
elaboration. Let us then take a cursory view of the intestinal 
and alimentary canal. The food is received into the mouth, 
and masticated by the teeth. Now, the food does not make 
the teeth, but the teeth are evidently formed for the masaca- 
tion of the food. They are also of importance in aiding the 
articulation of the voice. Infants, for whom a liquid aliment 
is provided, and who have not acquired the use of speech, 
have them not ; but they make their appearance when they 
are wanted. 

The organs of taste are stationed in the mouth, with those 
of smelling in their vicinity, to warn us against the admission 
of anything noxious into the stomach ; and these senses, when 
they are not vitiated by unnatural habits, are not only faith- 
ful monitors, but sources of much enjoyment. Are there no 
marks of intelligence, design and contrivance, in fixing the 
teeth just where they are needed, and in the only place where 
they can be useful! Is there no wisdom and no benignity in 
guarding the avenue to the stomach, not only by the eye, 
which inspects every substance presented to the mouth, but 
also by the organs of smell and taste, posted at the very en- 
trance of the alimentary canal, to detect everything unwhole- 
some in the food which may have escaped the vigilance of the 
eye 1 No man in the right use of reason can affirm it. 

In tracing the food in its progress, the marks of trracious 
design and skilful contrivance still accompany us, and multi- 
ply as we proceed. The tracht a or windpipe, the upper part 
of which is called the larynx, communicates with the (esopha- 
gus, or passage to the stomach. If the minutest part of our 
food pass into the trachea, it never fails to produce a violent 
cough, and sometimes very alarming symptoms. This acci- 
dent, however, seldom happens. How is it prevented 1 By 
a very simple but skilful contrivance. A neat, elastic, carti- 
laginous lid, called epiglottis, is so attached to the mouth of 
the windpipe as to he pr< ssed down by the food, which it pre- 
vents from passing towards the lungs, wiiile the passage to 
the stomach remains unimpeded. At the same time the velum 
pnlati, drawn backwards by its muscles, closes the openings 



OF THE HUMAN BODY. 39 

of the nose and of the Eustachian tubes, and so prevents the 
food from returning through the nose, which sometimes hap- 
pens partially in drinking. Moreover, in the ad of degluti- 
tion, tlic larynx, u hich being composed of cartilaginous rings', 
in its ordinary state compresses the oesophagus, is carried for- 
wards and upwards by muscles destined fur the purpose, and 
consequently dilates the opening of the gullet. On reaching the 
gullet, the food is carried down by the principle of gravity : 
and a mechanical contrivance also lends its aid. The muscu- 
lar fibres of the oesophagus contract from above, and press the 
aliment forward to the stomach. This is obvious in drink inn 
with the head downwards, when deglutition can be performed 
by the muscular action of the oesophagus only. 

The food soon reaches the stomach, a membranous bag, or 
dilatation of the alimentary canal, where it is accumulated 
and undergoes new processes. In its process towards the 
stomach the food is broken and divided by the teeth, and at- 
tenuated by the saliva, a powerful solvent. On reaching the 
stomach it 4s subjected to the operation of a new chemical 
agent, the gastric juice, a liquid secreted chiefly by that organ. 
The nature of this liquid is not yet fully known. Its taste, 
colour, and solvent powers are different in different classes of 
animals. Some living creatures cannot digest that which is 
the food of others. Some animals, such as sheep, live wholly 
upon vegetables; their stomachs do not digest animal sub- 
stances. Others, as the eagle, feed entirely on animal sub- 
stances : their stomachs do not digest vegetables. Hemlock 
is poisonous to man; but goats eat it without injury. 

The gastric juice does not continue always of the same na- 
ture, even in the same animal. It is in some measure modi- 
fied according to the age, the health, the habits, and the differ- 
ent aliments on which the animal subsists. Sick persons and 
children are incapable of digesting the food which is nutri- 
tious to a healthy man. Some graminivorous animals may 
be brought to live on animal food, and to reject grass ; and 
some carnivorous animals may be accustomed to vegetables. 
But still the gastric juice, although it in some measure accom- 
modates itself to the substances subjected to its operation, 
evidently appears to have peculiar qualities in certain classes 
of animals. In the dog it dissolves hard bones, but, in equal 
times, makes no great impression on potatoes, parsnips, and 
other vegetable substances. On the other hand, in the sheep 
and ox it speedily dissolves vegetables, but makes little im- 
pression on animal bodies. Different tribes of animals are 
distinguished by their gastric juice as well as by their exter- 



40 GENERAL VIEW OF THE HUMAN BODY. 

nal form, and both are well suited, in every instance, to the 
habits of the creature ; for in many cases there is an astonish- 
ing correspondence In i\\ een tin' teeth and tiiat liquid. The 
teeth of graminivorous animals are differently formed from 
those of the carnivorous tribes ; and in both they are wonder- 
fully suited to the food and to the gastric juice of the animal. 
He who can believe that all these adaptations are the result of 
chance is no enemy to credulity. 

The gastric juice, while it dissolves food, even although 
enclosed in perforated metallic tubes, spares the living sto- 
mach. But, when life ceases, this liquid often acts on the very 
organ from which it has been secreted. It differs froma che- 
mical solvent, in havingan assimilating power, by which it re- 
duces all substances, whether animal or vegetable, into a soft 
pulpy mass named chyme, and prepares them for passing from 
the stomach into the intestines. If the food has been pro- 
perly digested in the stomach, on reaching the lower orifice of 
that organ, named pylorus, it is freely allowed to pass. But 
if it is not fully reduced to chyme, then, by a sort oft instinctive 
sensibility of the pylorus, it is thrown back into the stomach 
to undergo more thoroughly the action of the gastric juice. In 
the intestines, the chyme is mingled with the bile ami pan- 
creatic juice. In short, from one extremity of the alimentary 
canal to the other, fluids are perpetually flowing into it from 
the glands and other sources. By the action of these fluids, 
and of the intestines, the chyme is formed partly into chyle, 
which is absorbed by the lacteals, and thrown into the circu- 
lation, and partly intoexcrementitious matter, which is ejected 
from the body. 

Here then we see an astonishing process carried on by the 
instrumentality of many different parts, all nicely adapted to 
each other, all co-operating in the same work, and tending to 
the accomplishment of the same end; the support and nou- 
rishment of the body. The mastication and deglutition of the 
food, and the moistening of it with the saliva before it enters 
the stomach ; the great change which it undergoes in that or- 
gan, chiefly by means of the dissolving and assimilating ac- 
tion of the gastric juice ; the changes induced upon the ali- 
ment after it passes from the stomach ; the separation of chyle 
from the excrementitious part; the absorption of the chyle by 
the lacteals, which throw it into the blood ; the mysterious 
process of assimilation ; the peristaltic motion of the viscera ; 
the mucus which is continually secreted for their protection 
against the acrimony of their contents ; and the ejection of the 
excrementitious matter from the body; these, when all taken 



THF INFERIOR ANIMALS. 41 

together, exhibit an astonishing- process. They furnish an 
undeniable proof not only of (lesion and admirable contrivance, 
but of great benignity also. What an amazing structure is 
the body of Man! Hew wonderful the absorbent, the circu- 
latory, secretory, and excrementory apparatus of the human 
system! We are wonderfully made, and the marks of wis- 
dom and goodness are deeply impressed on every part of our 
frame. 

To sum up all, on this part of the subject, in a few words ; 
let any person contemplate the human body; let him atten- 
tively examine the skeleton, the figure and structure of the 
bones of which it is composed, with their articulations ; the 
muscles, their origin, insertion, strength, and action ; the or- 
gans of sense, the eye, the ear, the nostrils, the tongue and 
palate, and the sense of feeling diffused over the whole body; 
the structure of the jaws, the stomach, and other viscera ; 
the structure and action of the lungs, and organs of speech ; 
and if he can retire from the examination without a deep im- 
pression of intelligence and design, yea of wisdom and good- 
ness, in the human frame, there can be but little doubt that 
his understanding is singularly obtuse, or his heart singu- 
larly depraved. Every mind, open to the force of evidence 
and to the impressions of truth, must join in the exclamation 
of an ancient sage, " I am fearfully and wonderfully made." 

It may here be remarked, that as food nourishes the bod}'', 
so sleep refreshes both body and mind. This mysterious 
phenomenon we are unable to explain ; but its periodical re- 
turn is necessary to life, and by it a beneficial end is accom- 
plished. There is an obvious relation between sleep and the 
rotation of the earth on its axis. They are harmonious parts 
of one whole. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE INFERIOR ANIMALS. 

Man is evidently the noblest inhabitant of the earth. He 
is not, indeed, so strong as the elephant, nor so swift as the 
antelope ; his eye is not so piercing as that of the eagle, nor 
his sense of smell so exquisite as that of the dog : but the 
high faculties of his mind give him superiority and dominion 
over the whole animal creation. Around us we see a vast 
4* 



42 THE INFERIOR ANIMALS. 

variety of objects, possessing very different qualities. These 
objects do not stand at a great distance from each other : they 
are wonderfully linked together, rising above each other by 
almost imperceptible degrees. The system of nature is a 
system of insensible gradations. The two extremes of or- 
ganic and inorganic matter, perhaps, meet at a common point. 
Corals and corallines seem to unite the mineral, vegetable, 
and animal kingdoms. The boundaries of animal and vege- 
table life are obscurely defined, and the interval between 
the polypus and man is filled up with an amazing gradation 
of animated beings. The progress from unorganized to or- 
ganized matter, from vegetable to animal, and from animal 
to rational existence, presents an astonishing and gradually- 
ascending series. In the whole progression we see a strik- 
ing uniformity of plan, with a rich variety in the execution : 
beautiful analogies and nice distinctions everywhere occur. 

It is animal existence which, at present, claims our atten- 
tion. The earth, the air, and the water, are all abundantly 
replenished with sentient beings, differing in their external 
appearance, their habits, and their dispositions; and all en- 
joying happiness according to their several constitutions. 
Man unquestionably stands at the head of this system of ani- 
mated being ; and there seems to be a much larger interval 
between him and the most sagacious of the inferior animals, 
than what occurs in any other part of the gradation. It is 
true, indeed, that in a number of instances, we find man in a 
state little superior to that of the brutes : but, in the view un- 
der consideration, Ave must take his capacity of improvement 
into our estimate. My full conviction is, that if we were to 
examine animals in every gradation from the polypus to man, 
we should meet, with incontrovertible evidences of design, 
and wise and benevolent contrivance, in every stage of our 
progress. 15ut a field of this kind is greatly too extensive 
for our present purpose. It would be, no doubt. both pleasant 
and instructive leisurely to pass through the whole animal 
kingdom, and to examine with minute attention everything 
that fell in our way. This, however, would lead into vo- 
luminous details, instead of a concise treatise. My limits con- 
fine me to a few remarks : and as neither comparative anato- 
my nor natural history is my object, I shall pay no attention 
to systematic arrangement, but shall endeavour to show. 

I. That the form of the inferior animals is admirably adapt- 
ed to their manner of life. 

II. That they are provided with suitable clothing. 



FORM OF THE INFERIOR ANIMALS. 43 

III. That they possess means of defence suited to their 
condition. 

IV. That they are qualified for procuring their food. 

V. That we meet with surprising adaptations of animals 
to peculiar circumstances. 

VI. That each kind is capahle of continuing its species. 
Under each of these heads, I shall mention a number of 

particulars respecting the inferior animals: these particulars 
will be of a very miscellaneous nature; but, I presume, will 
all tend to show wise design and benevolent contrivance in 
nature. 

I. The form of the inferior animals is admirably adapted 
to their manner of life. 

1. In the form of the different kinds of quadrupeds there is 
great variety ; but amidst all the variety we perceive the 
same general plan ; the same great outline appears in the 
skeleton, in the articulations of the bones, in the disposition, 
form, and insertion of the muscles ; and in several other cir- 
cumstances, all accommodated to the peculiar nature and 
habits of the animal. The organs of sense, of digestion, of 
circulation, and of generation, occur in all the species, but 
are varied according to the destination of each. 

In order to support the head of quadrupeds, they are fur- 
nished with a very strong ligament firmly bracing the head to 
the vertebrae of the back. This ligament arises from the 
spines of the dorsal and cervical vertebrae, which are length- 
ened out for that purpose, and is fixed to the middle and pos- 
terior part of the occipital bone. It is of great strength and 
size in all quadrupeds; but is remarkably so in the elephant, 
where the great weight of the head requires a strong support. 
This ligament is wanting in man, because he did not need it ; 
but it is of great use to quadrupeds, and they are provided 
with it. Here, as in every other department of nature, the 
provision is suited to the exigency of the case. 

In graminivorous animals we see a remarkable correspond- 
ence between the length of the legs and the length of the 
neck. According to the ancient fable, Tantalus was set up 
to the chin in water, and apples were at his lips ; but he had 
no power to stoop to the one to quench his thirst, or to reach 
up to the other to satisfy his hunger. There is nothing like 
this in nature. All animals are capable of gathering their 
food. Herbage is abundantly provided for the graminivo- 
rous tribes, and there is such a correspondence between their 
necks and their legs that they can easily reach it. 

2. The external figure of birds is excellently adapted to 



44 FORM OF THE INFERIOR ANIMALS. 

the mode of life which they are destined to pursue. They 
can either walk on the ground, or by the action of their 
wings rise buoyant on the air, and pass through it with great 
rapidity, somewhat like lish in water. Their wings are 
moved by remarkably strong muscles, and their tail serves 
as a rudder to direct their course. In most cases their heads 
ill. The proper bones of the cranium, at least in 
adult animals, are not joined by sutures, but are consolidated 
into a single piece. This small and compact head generally 
terminates in a sharp-pointed beak; and the breast-bone is 
formed somewhat like the prow of a ship, so that the bird 
can pass easily through the air. The wings are placed more 
forward than the middle part of the body ; and, at first sight, 
we should be ready to imagine that, in Hying, the posterior 
parts would hang down, and that the bird would be unable 
to preserve the body in a horizontal position. But by stretch- 
ing out its head, which acts upon the lever of a long neck, by 
filling its abdominal sacs with air, and by expanding the tail, 
it alters the centre of gravity, and keeps its body nearly in 
the plane of the horizon. The legs of birds are placed far 
back in their bodies; but. by erecting the head and neck, 
they throw the centre of gravity on the feet. As birds are 
destined to pass rapidly through the atmosphere, so their in- 
ternal configuration, as well as their external form, is hap- 
pily fitted lor volitation. They harmoniously conspire for 
the purpose, and so run into each other that I shall consider 
them together. 

Receptacles of air pervade the whole bodies of birds, and 
their respiratory organs constitute one of the most singular 
structures in the animal economy. Their respiration is per- 
formed by means of lungs which are fixed to the back-bone, 
and which have a communication with air cells spread over 
the whole abdomen, and also with hollow bones, which, in- 
stead of marrow, are filled with air. And not the hollow 
bones only are filled with air. but the pinions also: in some 
cases, the communication even extends to analogous cavities 
in the musch s. In those birds which soar highest, such as 
. . the hawk, and the lark, the cavities in the bones 
and below the muscles are very large. This great diffusion 
of air throughout the bodies of birds makes them specifically 
lighter than otherwise they would have been, and so fits 
them for supporting themselves in that medium through 
which tin \ are destined to pass. If we consider the rare- 
faction of the included air by the heat of the animal, we will 
easily perceive that these air cells enable the bird to fly with 



FORM OF THE INFERIOR ANIMALS. 45 

much more ease than it could have done if it had been form- 
ed Like quadrupeds. 

The air cells seem likewise to supply the place of a dia- 
phragm, and of strong- abdominal muscles. Without adding 
anything to the weight of the body, they produce the same 
effect on the viscera as those muscles would have done. Pro- 
bably they are also of much importance to the respiration of 
the bird. The ostrich, indeed, which does not fly, is pro- 
vided with them ; but from the use which it makes of its 
wings in running, they no doubt contribute to the rapidity of 
its motion. The bat has them not; but its structure is pecu- 
liar, and its flight is never long. Birds have no bladder of 
urine ; but an ureter proceeds from each kidney, and termi- 
nates in the rectum, consequently the urine is discharged 
along with the faeces. This seems to be a contrivance for 
making the animal lighter. Here we see a conformation of 
parts evidently fitted to the bird's manner of life. The wings 
did not form the pointed beak and sharp breast bone, nor did 
they create the air vesicles : and, on the other hand, the 
pointed beak and the air vesicles did not give existence to 
the wings. They exist independently on each other ; yet 
they all harmonize and contribute to the same end. The in- 
ference is obvious and irresistible. 

3. Of the inhabitants of the water there is a prodigious 
variety : but one general figure, subject to different modifica- 
tions, prevails among fish. Their form is well fitted for tra- 
versing the fluid in which they reside ; and, by means of their 
fins and tails, many of them can pass through the water with 
great- rapidity. Men, in some measure, imitate the shape of 
fish in the construction of fast-sailing vessels. But many 
fishes, with the greatest ease, overtake a ship under sail, 
play around it as if it were motionless, and dart off before it 
at pleasure. The tail is the great instrument of progressive 
motion ; the fins serving chiefly to keep the body upright. 

Fish are furnished with organs of respiration suited to the 
element which they inhabit. Instead of lungs they have 
gills, or branchiae, which are placed behind the head on each 
side; and, in most instances, have a movable gill cover. By 
means of these organs, which are connected with the throat, 
the animal draws its oxygen from the air contained in the 
water, as animals with lungs derive it immediately from the 
atmosphere. Fish discharge the water through the bronchial 
openings, and thus their expiration and inspiration are per- 
formed through different passages. The heart of fish is very 
small in proportion to the body. Its structure is simple, con- 



46 FORM OF THE INFERIOR ANIMALS. 

sisting of a single auricle and ventricle, which correspond 
with the right side of the heart in warm-blooded animals. 
The ventricle gives rise to a single arterial trunk, going 
Btraight forward' to the bronchia, whence the blood passes 
into a large artery, analogous to the aorta, which goes along 
the spine and supplies the body of the animal. It is returned 
by the venae cavx into the auricle. 

The temperature of the inhabitants of the water is nearly 
the same with that of the element in which they reside; and 
fish need less air than hot-blooded animals. Still they need 
a certain portion of air, and soon expire under the exhausted 
receiver of an air-pump. Berzelius, indeed, has stated that 
a fish may continue alive for several days in water which is 
void of air, and that it cannot be observed that the least de- 
composition of the water has taken place by its respiration. 
But he has not told us whether he means to assert that this 
takes place under the exhausted receiver of an air-pump, or 
only when there is a free communication between the water 
and the atmosphere. A fish lives in a narrow-mouthed vessel 
filled with water, so long as the communication with the ex- 
ternal air remains open ; but soon dies if that communication 
be completely shut up. If a hole be broken in a frozen lake, 
the fish quickly repair to the place. Hence, in winter, the 
North American Indians, when their provisions fail, break a 
hole in the ice, and commonly succeed in obtaining a fresh 
supply by fishing.* 

As fish have no lungs, so we have already seen their heart 
has only one auricle and one ventricle. Now the heart did 
not create the respiratory organs, nor did the respiratory or- 
gans form the heart ; yet they are evidently adapted to each 
other. Many fishes are provided with a swimming bladder, 
which lies close to the back-bone, and has a strong muscular 
coat. The fish can cither contract or dilate this bladder; 
and, rendering itself specifically lighter or heavier, can de- 
scend or ascend at pleasure. Flounders, and some other 
fishes, which want this bladder, are always found grovelling 
at the bottom of the water. This, however, is not universally 
the case; for fishes of the cartilaginous kind want air blad- 
ders, and yet they easily rise to the top or sink to the bot- 
tom ; and although most of the eel kind have air bladders, 



* River water has rather less than J- of its bulk of air. This 
air contains about ^ of oxygen; from ^ to -^ carbonic 
acid i the remainder is nitrogen.— See Ellis, Inq. No. 551, &c. 






FORM OF THE INFERIOR ANIMALS. 47 

yet they cannot raise themselves in the water without diffi- 
culty. It is probable, therefore, that this bladder serves other 
purposes in the economy of the fish besides enabling it to 
rise and sink in the water. 

The natatory bladder is largest in such fishes as swim with 
considerable velocity. It is wanting in flat fishes, where the 
large lateral fins supply its place, and in the shark, where its 
absence is compensated by the size and strength of the tail. It 
does not exist in the lamprey, which possesses none of these 
compensations ; and therefore it creeps slowly at the bottom 
of the water. In fresh-water fishes, the air bladder, accord- 
ing to Erman's experiments, contains nitrogen gas mixed 
with varying proportions of oxygen gas ; but this last is 
never found in it in the same proportion as in atmospheric 
air. Biot found that in salt-water fishes, it contained oxygen 
gas increasing in proportion as the fish was in the habit of 
living at a great depth.* This bladder communicates ge- 
nerally with the oesophagus, and sometimes with the stomach. 
The whale tribe and the web-footed mammalia, which breathe 
by lungs, must often rise to the surface for the purpose of 
respiration. 

Some of the inhabitants of the water present, a singular ap- 
pearance. Their bones, instead of being placed internally, 
form their exterior covering. They stand low in the scale of 
animal existence ; but even in them we see a wise and gra- 
cious provision for the preservation of the creature. The 
muscle, for instance, has a locomotive power : on looking at 
it we should be apt to imagine that it would be the sport of 
the waves, and be dashed to pieces against the rocks in a 
storm. It, however, has the power of securing itself against 
this danger, and of providing for its safety, by forming cer- 
tain viscous threads, about two inches long, by means of 
which it firmly attaches itself to the rock, as by a cable and 
anchor. Upwards of a hundred and fifty of these cables are 
sometimes employed in mooring a single muscle. Here we 
see means of preservation well adapted to the state and cir- 
cumstances of the animal. 

4. In the different classes of animals there is a wonderful 



* Between the tropics, Humboldt found in the natatory blad- 
der of the flying - fish 0.94 azote, 0.04, oxygen 0.02 carbonic acid. 
Some fish inhabiting the lower strata of the ocean have as much 
as 0.92 of oxygen in their air bladder. — Humbolut, Personal 
Narrutive, v. ii. p. 16. 



48 FORM OF THE INFERIOR ANIMALS. 

adaptation of the organs of sense to the structure of the rest 
of the body, and to the animal's peculiar manner of life. Of 
this I shall take the eye as an example. 

All animals have two eves: some insects have more. In 
man the eyes are directed forwards, harmonizing with the 
form and articulations of the upper and lower extremities, 
and with the configuration of the whole body. In most of 
the inferior animals, the eye has an oblique direction. The 
simia; and the owl look straight forward. The motions of 
the human eye are performed by six muscles : quadrupeds 
have a seventh, named, from its office, the suspensory mus- 
cle. It sustain* the weight of the globe of the eye, and pre- 
vents the optic nerve from being too much stretched, when 
the animal is obliged to hold its eyes in a hanging posture, 
and to look downwards in choosing and gathering its food. 
In man, on account of his erect posture, this muscle is not 
needed, and in the human subject it is not found; but to 
quadrupeds, by reason of their prone posture, it is of great 
utility, and they are provided with it. Now the suspensory 
muscle does not occasion the prone posture of the animal, 
and the prone posture does not create the suspensory muscle, 
for it comes into the world with the quadruped ; yet the one 
is adapted to the other. Is there not design, yea benevolent 
design, and skilful contrivance, in this adaptation? 

Many animals, but especially birds, whose eyes are much 
exposed to injury in passing through woods and thickets, are 
provided with a somewhat transparent covering for the eye, 
called the nictating membrane. It admits as many rays as 
render objects visible, and protects the organ of vision in cir- 
cumstances of danger. It screens the eye when the bird is 
flying directly against the rays of the sun; and by means of 
it, according to Cuvier, the eagle is enabled to look at that 
luminary. It also serves to cleanse the cornea, an rip. ration 
which man ran perform with his hand. It is drawn over the 
globe of the eye by the combined action of two very singular 
muscles, which are fitted for the purpose with much mecha- 
nical skill. 

The eyes of fish, being much exposed to danger in the in-> 
constant element in which they reside, always have a cuti- 
cle or firm pellucid membrane over them. Indeed their eyes 
differ, in several respects, from those of other animals, and 
are wonderfully accommodated to the medium in which fish 
exist. The vitreous humour is very small, and the aqueous 
sometimes scarcely perceptible. The water, in a great mea- 
sure, supplies the place of those two humours ; but, that re- 



FORM OF THE INFERIOR A.NIMALS. 49 

fraction may be duly earned on and vision accomplished, the 
crystalline is verj Large, almosl spherical, -.aid more dense 
than in terrestrial animals. In birds these circumstances are 
reversed; they are often in a somewhat elevated region of 
the atmosphere, and the rays which pass through that rare 
medium are refracted by the aqueous humour, which in birds 
is of a large size. Man, and the mammalia, living on the 
surface of the earth, hold a middle place between these two 
extremes. The tapetum, or mucouawhich Hues the posterior 
surface of the iris, the ciliary processes, and part of the tu- 
nica choroides, is of different colours in different kinds of 
animals; and in each it is admirably fitted to the creature's 
manner of life. White reflects the rays of light; black ab- 
sorbs them. Accordingly the tapetum is either white, or of 
some vivid colour which reflects the light strongly, in those 
animals which seek their prey by night. The cat and the 
owl have the tapetum whitish, and the pupil capable of much 
contraction and dilatation. On the other hand the tapetum 
of birds in general, but especially of eagles, hawks, and other 
birds of prey, is black; by which means they are enabled to 
see with the greatest distinctness, but only in clear daylight. 
Man is designed to labour chiefly by day, and his tapetum is 
neither so black as that of birds, nor so white as that of those 
animals which make the greatest use of their eyes in the 
dark. Animals which are much under ground, as the mole 
and the shrew, have the eyes very small. In the former of 
these its existence has been altogether denied ; and it is not, 
in fact, larger than a pin's head. In some reptiles, the com- 
mon integuments form, instead of eyelids, a kind of firm win- 
dow, behind which the eyeball has a free motion. 

5. Quadrupeds are divided into the carnivorous and the 
herbivorous. As their food is different, so a difference in the 
teeth indicates the class to which the animal belongs. As 
the teeth of the graminivorous, parti uilarly of the ruminating 
kinds, are more constantly employed than those of the car- 
nivorous kinds, so they are more thoroughly provided with 
enamel. There is also a considerable difference in the arti- 
culations of the jaws of quadrupeds. In the feras the articu- 
lation admits only of the hinge movement : but in the her- 
bivorous quadrupeds, particularly in the ruminating kinds, 
the articulation admits of a very free lateral motion. Here 
there is an obvious correspondence between the form and the 
habits of the animal. 

There is a striking relation between the teeth, and the other 
instruments of mastication, and the stomach. The sheep, 
5 



50 FORM OF THE INFERIOR AXIMAL9. 

deer, and ox tribes, are destitute of foreteeth in the upper 
jaw : but the trituration of their food is completed by rumi- 
nation. The horse and ass do not chew the cud, but they 
are provided with suitable t< eth in the upper jaw for masti- 
cating the food and preparing it for the action of the gastric 
juicer The gastric juice of ruminating animals does not per- 
form its specific operation upon the food till the cud has been 
chewed ; and the animal seemd to have as much gratification 
in chewing the cud as in pasturing. It then appears to be 
in a state of the most tranquil enjoyment. 

Birds have no teeth; but the herbivorous and graminivo- 
rous kinds are furnished with the gizzard, a powerful instru- 
ment for grinding the food, and preparing it for the action of 
the gastric juice. This juice does not act on the unbroken 
grain, but the animal is provided with the means of grinding 
it. Now the gizzard did not form the bill of the bird, nor 
did the bill give existence to the gizzard ; yet they are exact- 
ly fitted to each other. Teeth and a gizzard are not found to- 
gether. 

Instead of extending these remarks, I shall close this 
section by inserting some of the conclusions of Cuvier, so 
distinguished by his knowledge in comparative anatomy. 
" Every organized individual," says he, " forms an entire 
system of its own, all the parts of which must mutually cor- 
respond, and concur to produce a certain definite purpose, by 
reciprocal reaction, or by combining towards the same end. 
Hence none of these separate parts can change their forms 
without a corresponding change in the other parts of the same 
animal, and consequently each of their parts taken separately 
indicates all the other parts to which it has belonged. Thus, 
if the viscera of an animal are so organized as to be fitted 
for the digestion of recent flesh only, it is also requisite that 
the jaws should be so constructed as to fit them foi devour- 
ing prey; the claws must be constructed for seizing and tear- 
ing it to pieces; the teeth for cutting and dividing its flesh; 
the entire system of the limbs, or organs of motion, for pur- 
suing and overtaking it ; and the organs of sense for discover- 
ing it at a distance. — The shape and structure of the teeth 
regulate the forms of the condyle, of the shoulder-blade, and 
of°the claws; so that a claw, a shoulder-blade, a condyle, a 
leer or arm bone, or any other bone separately considered, 
enables us to discover the description of teeth to which they 
have belonged ; and so also reciprocally we may determine 
the forms of the other hones from the teeth. Thus com- 
mencing our investigations by a careful survey of any one 



CLOTHING OF THE INFERIOR ANIMALS. 51 

bone by itself, a person who is sufficiently master of the laws 
of organic structure may, as it wore, reconstruct the whole 
animal to which that bone had belonged. — The smallest frag- 
ment of bone, even the most apparently insignificant apophy- 
sis, possesses a fixed and determinate character, relative to 
the class, order, genus, and species of the animal to which 
it belonged ; insomuch that, when we find merely the extre- 
mity of a well preserved bone, we are able, by careful exami- 
nation, assisted by analogy and exact comparison, to deter- 
mine the species to which it once belonged as certainly as if 
we had the entire animal before us."* 

II. The clothing of the inferior animals is completely adapt- 
ed to the climate which they inhabit, and to the different 
seasons of the year. In Kamtschatka, Lapland, and the higher 
latitudes of North America, they are clothed with thick and 
warm furs; but in tropical climates they are almost naked. 

The musk-ox, a native of high latitudes, is provided in 
winter with a thick and fine wool, or fur, which grows at the 
root of the long hair, and shelters him from the intense cold 
to which he is exposed in that season. But as the summer 
advances this fur loosens from the skin, and by the animal's 
frequent rolling himself on the ground, it works out to the 
end of the hair, and in clue time drops off, leaving little for 
summer clothing except the long hair. As the warm weather 
is of short duration in those high latitudes, the new fleece 
begins to appear almost as soon as the old one drops off, so 
that he is again provided with a winter dress before the cold 
becomes intense. The clothing is suited to the season. 
Where are the animals found which furnish materials for the 
fur trade ? Not within the tropics ; but in countries border- 
ing on the Arctic circle. The elephant is a native of hot 
climates, and he goes naked. Rein-deer abound in Lapland 
and in the vicinity of Hudson's Bay, and they have a coat of 
strong dense hair. The white bear is found on the coast of 
Greenland, and his shaggy covering is suited to that high la- 
titude. In a word, if we pass from the equator to Spitzber- 
gen and Nova Zembla, we shall find in all the intermediate 
degrees, that the clothing of quadrupeds is suited to their 
climate, and accommodates itself to the season of the year. 

Man is the only naked animal in all countries ; and he is 
the only creature qualified to provide clothing for himself, and 
to accommodate that clothing to every climate, and to all the 



* Cuvier's Theory, p. 90, &c. 



52 DEFENCE OF THE INFERIOR ANIMALS. 

variety of the seasons. In this, as in every oilier respect, bis 
condition is suited to his nature, as a b( ing whose improve- 
ment and happiness are promoted by labour of body and ex- 
ercise of mind. 

If we pass to the clothing of birds, we still find benevolent 
contrivance, suited to the circumstances and providing for 
tin welfare of the animal. This clothing consists of feathers, 
which arc very bad conductors of heat, and which consequent- 
ly permit the heat of the animal to pass off very slowly into 
the circumambient medium. The feathers are so inserted into 
the skin as naturally to lie backwards from the head, and to 
lap over each other, like tiles on a roof, allowing the rain to 
runoff. When the head of the bird is turned towards the 
wind, the feathers are not discomposed by the most violent 
storm. The rump of birds terminates in a large gland, which 
secretes an oily substance ; and when the feathers are too 
dry, or any way disordered, the bird squeezes the oil out of 
this gland, and dresses them with it. Thus the admission of 
water is prevented ; and the bird, by means of its feathers, is 
sheltered both from cold and rain. "Water-fowls have their 
breast covered with warm and soft clothing, suited to their 
circumstances. The eider-duck abounds on the coasts of 
Iceland; and the warmth of eider-down is well known. 
While the feathers of birds thus preserve them from cold, 
they are also a sort of defensive armour, and excellent instru- 
ments of motion. 

The temperature of fish is not much above that of the me- 
dium in which they reside; and they have not, in general, 
any great occasion for warm clothing. Nevertheless they 
are provided with a scaly coat of mail, and are covered with 
a slimy and glutinous matter, which not only defends their 
bodies from the immediate contact of the surrounding fluid, 
but probably facilitates their motion through the water also. 
Under the scales, and before we come to the muscular part 
of the body, we meet with an oily substance, which contri- 
butes to the preservation of the requisite warmth. The whale 
is a hot-blooded animal, and resides chiefly in polar regions ; 
but he is wrapped up in a thick coat of blubber, which de- 
fends him from the cold. Other inhabitants of the water in 
high latitudes, as the walrus, enjoy a similar security against 
the rigour of the element to which they are exposed. Can 
we seriously attend to the clothing of animals, without re- 
cognizing in it the hand of a wise and beneficent First 

III. Every animated being is endued with the love of life, 



DEFENCE OF THE INFERIOR ANIMALS. 53 

and the desire of self-preservation; and is also furnished with 
the means of acting in conformity to this instinctive principle 
of its nature. Every animal can search for its food, and 
choose what is proper for its subsistence. But, at present, 
I shall shortly attend to the means which different animals 
possess of securing themselves against danger, and of de- 
fending themselves from their enemies. Every animal pos- 
sesses, in a certain degree, the means of self-preservation, 
either by resistance or flight. Some animals have formidable 
instruments of offence in their horns, teeth, claws, hoofs, or 
sting : others trust for safety to the swiftness of their course, 
or velocity of their flight ; and some defend themselves by 
emitting a repulsive odour. 

In gregarious animals, although the individual, in some 
instances, is weak and timid, yet the herd or flock can assume 
an imposing attitude, and make a vigorous defence. No 
creatures are more timid and defenceless than sheep, when 
under the protection of man. In the natural state, however, 
the rams, constituting the half of the flock, place themselves 
in battle array against the enemy, and dogs can make no im- 
pression upon them. Even the lion or tiger is unable to re- 
sist their united impetuosity and force ! A single goat can 
choose his position on the rock, and set the dog at defiance. 
Horses join heads together, and fight with their heels; oxen 
join tails and fight with their horns ; all place their young in 
the centre, that they may be safe during the battle. In pe- 
rilous cases elephants march in troops ; the oldest in front, 
the young and feeble in the centre, those of middle age and 
mature vigour in the rear. When at a distance from danger 
they travel with less precaution, never however separating so 
far but that they can hear one another's cries, and afford timely 
assistance. 

The mole is well-formed for digging, and escapes from its 
pursuers by penetrating into the earth: the hedge-hog rolls 
itself up in a prickly envelope : the hare is well-fitted for 
running, and trusts to its swiftness for safety. The inno- 
cuous lama, which uses neither feet nor teeth against its ene- 
mies, is not destitute of means of defence. It is provided, we 
are told, with an acrimonious saliva, which, when offended, 
it can eject to the distance of several yards. This saliva oc- 
casions troublesome cutaneous eruptions where it touches.* 



* Ulloa, Voyage au Perou, liv. vi. ch. 8. Wilcock's Hist ory 
of Buenos Ayres, p. 458. 

5* 



54 DEFENCE OF THE INFERIOR ANIMALS. 

Some animals are furnished with peculiar glands and hags at 
the end of the rectum, which secrete and contain a remarka- 
bly fetid substance; and this substance the animal can at 
pleasure throw out against its pursuers. The z>irilta, a species 
of weazel about the size of a rabbit, found in several parts of 
South America, emits, when angry, such a pestilential vapour 
as beats oif the most formidable adversary. Another incon- 
veniencv. savs De Panes, which awaits the traveller in this 
country (betwi ii i and Mexico), is the abomina- 

ble smell of an animal, without the agility, but nearly of the 
size of a rabbit. This creature, when hardly pressed and in 
jeopardy of being taken, emits a most intolerable stench, 
which threatens suffocation to his pursuers, and which is 
eluded only by a precipitate flight. The squash, or Armenian 
polecat, when pursued or irritated, squirts upon its pursuers 
an excrementitious liquor of so horrible a smell that neither 
man nor dog can endure it. 

Birds by their different ways of flying often escape from 
their enemies. If the pigeon had the same way of flying as 
the hawk, it could scarcely ever escape his claws. 

If, from the earth and ;he air, we pass to the ocean, we 
shall find its inhabitants possessing, in like manner, means of 
defence and safety. The cuttle-fish, when closely pursued, 
ejects a fluid black as ink, and conceals itself and escapes by 
discolouring the water. The excretory duct of the bag which 
contains this singular secretion opens near the anus. The 
fluid itself is thick, but so miscible with water that a small 
quantity of it discolours a considerable body of water. Ac- 
cording to Cuvier, the Indian ink is made of this fluid. Some 
fishes have fins so large and flexible, that, when pursued, 
they can spring out of their native element, and dart through 
the air to a considerable distance. 

Some of the inhabitants of the water possess peculiar means 
of defence, by giving electrical shocks. The electrical fluid 
is widely diffused in nature; and seems to be lodged, in 
greater or less quantities, in all animals. That there is a 
considerable portion of it in the human body is evident. Some 
persons are naturally so much electrified as to sive obvious 
signs of the presence of this fluid, when a delicate electro- 
meter is applied to them ; and if their hair is combed, when 
they are placed on an insulating stool, they emit sparks. But 
only a very few animals have the power of giving shocks. 
So far as is at present known, they are all of the aquatic kind : 
the torpedo, gymnotus electricus, and silurus electrtcus. 

This property oi' the torpedo has been known since the 



FOOD OF THE INFERIOR ANIMALS. 55 

days of Theophrastus. It has the power of giving- a smart 
shock to the person who touches it. According to Humboldt 
and Guy Lussac, the contact must be immediate. The shock 
depends on the will of the animal, which must be irritated 
before it exerts its peculiar power. The electrical apparatus 
of the torpedo has some resemblance to a galvanic trough, 
and seems to act in a similar manner. 

The gymnotua electricua is a species of eel peculiar to vSuri- 
nam river, and is said to be a fresh-water fish only. When 
of the largest size it is about four feet long, and from ten to 
fourteen inches in circumference in the thickest part of the 
body. Its electrical power is greater than that of the torpedo. 
It gives even the most violent shocks without any movement 
of the head, eyes, or fins. But when the torpedo gives a 
shock, a convulsive motion of the pectoral fins may be ob- 
served. 

The ailurua electricua, a fish about twenty inches long, 
found in some of the rivers of Africa, gives a shock like the 
torpedo and gymnotus. By means of this singular power, 
these animals can stun their adversaries and escape by flight. 

Insects appear a feeble race; but some of them possess 
formidable means of defence and annoyance. Their sting is 
a spear, which they can wield with dexterity in repelling 
aggression. The fine polish of this little piece of armour has 
often been remarked, and adduced as an instance of the dif- 
ference between the workmanship of the Creator and the pro- 
ductions of art. When viewed through a microscope, the 
point of the finest needle seems rough and blunt; but the 
sting of a bee, when examined by the glass, is seen to be 
smooth and beautifully polished. The first displays all its 
beauties to the naked eye ; the instrument reveals its deform- 
ities : but the beauty of the last appears the more conspi- 
cuous the more narrowly it is inspected. In short, every 
animal is endued, in a greater or less degree, with the means 
of self-preservation. If any species be singularly exposed to 
danger it has the advantage of some great compensating 
principle, by which it is preserved from extinction. Many 
of the weaker or more timid animals can elude pursuit by the 
rapidity of their motions : some are very prolific and can 
bear a great waste. Here, as in every other department, we 
see a uniformity of plan, which can only be the fruit of de- 
sign ; and such an adaptation of means to ends as can result 
from nothing but benevolent intention. 

IV. There is a great variety in the tastes and appetites of 
different kinds of animals; and there is a corresponding 



56 FOOD OF THE INFERIOR ANIMALS. 

variety in the productions of the earth. There seems to be 
nothing in the wide extent of the vegetable kingdom, but 
wlr.ii will yield sustenance to animals of one kind or other. 
Each species finds food agreeable to its taste and proper to 
its nature, and animals of one class cannot deprive those of 
another of thi ir means of subsistence. Accordingto Linnaeus, 
the ho<r eats 72 kinds of vegetables ; the horse 06-2; the cow 
276; the sheep 387; and the goal 149. This diversity of tastes, 
with the corresponding diversity of productions, is one great 
. stocking every part of the earth and of the ocean 
with inhabitants. Some animals, both by sea and land, are 
formed only in certain latitudes. Some dwell in polar 
: others chiefly within the tropics; and each finds its 
peculiar aliment in the place where it resides. 

Animals are wonderfully fitted for discovering their means 
of subsistence. In selecting their food, they rely chiefly on 
smelling, and this sense does not deceive them. They easily 
distinguish between the noxious and the salutary, avoiding 
the one and feeding on the other. Some animals, such as 
wolves and ravens, discover their food at a distance, which, 
if we were to judge from our own sense of smelling, would 
appear altogether incredible. Others, as the eagle, the hawk, 
and the gull, have an amazingly acute eye ; and. from a great 
height, perceive mice, birds, and other objects of prey. 

As the different kinds of animals are admirably qualified 
for discovering their food, so they are well formed for gather- 
ing or seizing it. In graminivorous quadrupeds, there is a 
remarkable correspondence between the length of the legs 
and that of the neck. We do not find a very short neck in 
connection with long legs. The ox, the horse, and the sheep, 
are examples of the proportions of those different parts of the 
body. In some of the deer kind, indeed, the neck does not 
bear the same proportion to the legs, as in the animals now 
mentioned; hut they obtain their food chiefly by browsing 
on the branches of trees, in which case there is no need for a 
length of neck corresponding to the legs. They can easily 
pasture on an ascent ; and Vaillant assures US that even the 
giraffe, the most remarkable of this tribe, is able to drink 
from a stream, the surface of which is lower than the ground 
on which he stands. 

Monkeys are destined to live on trees; and their four pre- 
hensile members enable them to climb with the greatest 
facility. The tail of several kinds is a farther assistance in 
this way of life. The natural food of swine is chiefly the 
roots of plants: and they have a snout fitted for digging 



FOOD OF THE INFERIOR ANIMALS. 57 

up the earth. The goat is formed for ascending rocky preci- 
pices, to crop the leaves of those herbs and plants on which 
he delights. The squirrel feeds on the leaves and fruit of 
trees; and he is provided with feet which fit him for climb- 
ing. Woodpeckers have strong, wedge-like bills, for pierc- 
ing the hark of trees ; and they are provided with a long 
slender tongue, armed with a sharp bony point, barbed on 
each side, which, by means of a curious apparatus of mus- 
cles, they can dart out to a great length into the chinks of 
the bark, or into the holes which they have formed with their 
bills, in order to transfix and draw out the insects lurking 
there. Their legs and feet are admirably formed for climb- 
ing, and even the tail is made to co-operate for the same pur- 
pose. 

The tongue of the chameleon displays a very curious me- 
chanism. It is contained in a sheath at the lower part of the 
mouth, and has its extremity covered with a glutinous secre- 
tion. It admits of being projected to the length of six inches 
from the mouth, with wonderful celerity and precision ; and 
the viscous secretion on its extremity entangles the flies, and 
other similar insects, which constitute the food of the chame- 
leon. Water fowls feed upon fish, insects, and eggs offish ; 
and their bills, legs, wings, and whole structure, are fitted to 
their manner of life. The size and strength of the wings 
correspond with the circumstances of the different kinds of 
fowls. Birds of prey, which must often seek their food at 
a distance, have large and strong wings ; but in domestic 
birds, which can find nourishment almost everywhere, the 
wings are short and small. 

Were we to run over the organs of all animals for procur- 
ing their food and seizing their prey, from the trunk of the 
elephant to the blood-sucking apparatus of the gadfly, we 
should everywhere meet with the most astonishing adapta- 
tions, and displays of the most consummate mechanical skill. 
W T e see a vast variety of food provided; a corresponding 
variety of tastes for enjoying it ; and all animals furnished 
in one way or other with organs for taking possession of it. 
And is this vast, various, and complicated system the work 
of chance] Is not design, yea are not wisdom and goodness 
obvious in the provision made for the sustenance of the dif- 
ferent kinds of animals, in correspondence to their different 
tastes and appetites 1 The food does not form the taste; but 
the taste directs to the use of the food. Some animals could 
not live on that which is grateful to the palate of others ; 
and although the animal, in a number of instances, might 



58 ADAPTATION'S OF THE INFERIOR ANIMALS. 

support a lingering existence on the food which it does not 
choose, yet, in those cases, it would neither attain the vigour 
of its nature, nor the usual term of its life. According to all 
our conceptions, nothing but a designing Being could have 
furnished provisions suitahle to the nature of every animal, 
and formed each animal with fit organs for gathering that 
provision. 

V. In many instances we find surprising adaptations of 
animals to peculiar circumstances. Under this bead, I shall 
confine my observations to the camel and the rein-deer; the 
one a native of the arid plains in the warm and temperate 
regions of Asia and Africa ; the other an inhabitant of high 
latitudes. The camel is found in warm climates, and on 
parched and sandy plains ; and the structure of bis body, and 
his habits, are accommodated to the circumstances in which 
he is placed. In the regions which he inhabits, the earth is 
seldom refreshed with showers ; and, in many cases, only a 
few stunted shrubs or herbs appear in the midst of the sandy 
wilderness, or around the wells which are thinly scattered in 
the desert. In this situation, his place could not he supplied 
to man by any other animal. "The sand," says Denon, "is 
truly his element; for as soon as he quits it and touches the 
mad. he can hardly keep upon his feet, and his constant trips 
alarm the rider for his own safety and that of his baggage.' 
His rough and spongy soles are excellently fitted for travers- 
ing the ocean of sand : they do not crack with the heat. 

Besides the four stomachs common to ruminating animals, 
the camel is furnished with a fifth, which serves as a reser- 
voir for containing water. It is peculiar to this animal, and 
is so capacious that, according to Bruce, it can contain water 
sufficient to serve him for thirty days. Russell, in his Natu- 
ral History of Aleppo, mentions a Bassora caravan, in winch 
the camels remained fifteen days without water ; but he adds, 
that the Aleppo and Bassora caravans are seldom more than 
three or four days without finding wells ; although, at times, 
when obliged to leave the common track, the camels suffer 
an abstinence of six or seven days. The fifth stomach pre- 
serves the water in a state of perfect purity and limpidity, 
without permitting any part of the aliment, or of the fluids of 
the body, to mix with it. In traversing the vast burning 
deserts, which without his aid no human power could pass, 
when the camel is pressed with thirst, or has occasion for 
water to macerate his dry food in ruminating, he makes part 
of the water mount into his paunch, or even as high as the 
oesophagus, by the contraction of certain muscles. His sto- 



ADAPTATIONS OF THE INFERIOR ANIMALS. 59 

machs are possessed of a peculiar sensibility, by which each 
opens to receive the food proper to it. He scents a pool of 
water hall' a league off. 

As the camel is fitted for marching through the arid wilder- 
ness, so he can pass over the most barren region. He can 
subsist and toil on a very small quantity of food, and that of 
the coarsest kind, such as wormwood, thistles, broom, thorny 
shrubs, and other similar fare. When even this rough ali- 
ment cannot be obtained, he can subsist on a few pounded 
dates, or some small paste-balls of bean or barley meal. 
With a single pound of such food in a day, he can travel for 
weeks together, upwards of 30 miles a-day, under a load of 
750 or 800 pounds. As he is so surprisingly fitted for pass- 
ing parched and burning deserts, in which without his aid 
man must inevitably perish, he is by the Arabs emphatically 
styled the ship of the desert. He is the great medium of com- 
merce in the regions which he inhabits ; and without him the 
wilderness would be altogether impassable. 

The Arabs subsist on the milk of the female, in the dif- 
ferent forms of curds, cheese, and butter ; and they often feed 
on its flesh. They use the camel's dung as fuel ; they make 
slippers or harness of its skin, and tents and clothing of its 
hair. When alive, this animal is the treasure and support of 
its master; and, even when dead, contributes to his accom- 
modation and comfort. Here then we have an unsightly, but 
inoffensive and docile animal, of peculiar conformation and 
habits; and that conformation and those habits admirably 
adapted to the physical state of those countries where he is 
found. And will the atheist allege that the sands and heat 
of the wilderness formed the spongy hoof and the fifth 
stomach of the camel, and endued him with the singular pa- 
tience of hunger and thirst; or that the spongy hoof and 
water-bag of the camel created the vast sandy plain, and 
planted the stunted thorn in the desert"? No sober man will 
attach the least credit to such allegations ; for here we see 
an adaptation plainly indicative of mind, and which could 
only originate from a wise and benevolent First Cause. 

But leaving the parched deserts between the Euphrates 
and the Gambia, let us turn our eye to the arctic regions of 
America, to the mountains of Lapland, or to the wilds of 
Siberia : there we meet with an animal almost as useful as 
the camel, and perceive a striking adaptation in the rein-deer. 
This animal is a treasure to the Laplander. In winter, it 
draws his sledge with great rapidity over the frozen lakes, 
rivers, and snow-clad mountains of his country. Two of 



GO SEXES OF ANIMALS. 

them yoked in a carriage can travel a hundred miles a-day. 
Besides serving the purposes of rapid transportation, they «re 
far more extensively useful. Their milk yields cheese ; their 
flesh, a wholesome and nutritious diet. Their skin furnishes 
clothing; the tendons, bowstrings and thread; and the bones 
and horns, glue and spoons. 

Let the camel and the ruin-deer change places. Carry the 
latter to the burning sands of Asia or Africa, and transport 
the former to the confines of the arctic circle. What happens 1 
Both become miserable and useless creatures. There is no 
adaptation in the broad spongy sole of the camel, and no oc- 
casion for his fifth stomach. Neither his constitution nor 
his clothing is suited to the climate. He becomes an unpro- 
fitable and. unhappy creature: he lingers, pines, and dies. 
Does the rein-deer tare better by the change? No. He is 
unable to bear the heat of the sun, and the drought of the 
desert. His dense coat of hair is an intolerable burden, and 
he soon falls a victim to an unsuitable climate. Now, how 
shall Ave account for the suitableness of the creature to the 
circumstances in which he is placed, but by the admission of 
a wise First Cause 1 Insensible must be the heart which is 
not filled with admiration at such adaptations ; and callous 
those affections which do not glow with gratitude to the 
bountiful Author of Nature. 

VI. Every species of animals is endued with the capacity 
of continuing its kind. The difference of sexes, and the mu- 
tual correspondence of parts in the different kinds of animals, 
demonstrate design and skilful contrivance. Now, design 
and contrivance are acts of mind, and cannot be predicated of 
anything but mind. Supposing that a living creature were 
somehow found, without any designing cause, yet what pro- 
bability is there that it would be of any sex, or capable in 
any way of propagating its kind ? This capacity implies a 
peculiarity of structure, and a variety of combinations that 
cannot appear without design. But supposing the atheist to 
find, in any way he pleases, an animal of one sex, of any 
given kind', how shall lie find a mate lor it'! How. otherwise 
Than by design and skilful contrivance, shall he procure 
another of the same kind, and of a different sex 1 We observe 
nothing throughout the wide extent of nature that gives us 
even a shadow of reason for believing, that amidst millions 
of millions of casual combinations such a kindred animal 
could be produced. It must, however, not only be produced, 
hut within a very short time ; for the duration of an animal's 
life is bounded by narrow limits. And not only must it be 



_ 



SEXES OF ANIMALS. 61 

produced within a very short time, but also at or near the 
same place with the other; for we cannot suppose them to 
travel to any great distance in quest of each other. 

Here we meet with such difficulties, that unless the atheist 
can show us something- in the existing phenomena of nature 
in support of his suppositions and assertions, he has no right 
to blame us although we treat his hypothesis with contempt 
and derision. Thus, although there existed only one species 
of animals on the face of the earth, yet the argument in proof 
of the existence of a wise designing cause, drawn from the 
sexual relation, would be altogether unanswerable. We see, 
however, a vast system of such relations established and 
going on. We meet with perhaps twenty thousand different 
kinds of living creatures, all propagating their different kinds 
by sexual intercourse, carried on in one way or another. And 
we may take notice of a circumstance which seems to indi- 
cate not only a designing cause, but also a superintending 
providence. The circumstance is this, that throughout the 
whole range of animal existence there is always a due pro- 
portion between the sexes. The species never perishes by 
becoming all males, or all females. It cannot be alleged that 
all this diversity of animals has arisen from one original pair, 
by means of casual and gradual variations, during a long 
course of ages ; for an impassable barrier is placed between 
the different kinds of animals. Some of them, indeed, as the 
horse and the ass, can propagate by intermixture. But here 
the process ends. The mule is unproductive. The excep- 
tions which have happened, or are alleged to have happened, 
only serve to confirm the generality of the rule. Each of 
the different kinds of animals must have sprung from an ori- 
ginal pair. 

The difference of sexes, and the great system of corporeal 
adaptations connected with it, form a decisive argument in 
proof of the existence of a designing cause ; a mind capable 
of planning a vast variety of combinations, and of employing 
skilful and amazingly diversified contrivances in order to the 
accomplishment of an important end. " The sexes," says 
Dr. Paley, " are evidently made for each other. They form 
the grand relation of animated nature; universal, organic, 
mechanical ; subsisting, like the clearest relations of art, in 
different individuals; unequivocal, inexplicable without de- 
sign. So much so, that were every other proof of contrivance 
in nature dubious or obscure, this alone would be sufficient. 
The example is complete. Nothing is wanting to the argu- 
ment. I see no way whatever of getting over it." 



62 



The structure of insects might furnish materials for a large 
dissertation; but it is intended to make only a few general 
remarks on the subject. We admire and applaud the consum- 
mate skill of the artist who forms any piece of machinery on 
a minute scale; as a watch that can be set in a ring for the 
finger. How delicate and exact must he the adaptation of 
the parts, and how accurate the workmanship of the whole! 

Oughl not a similar admiration to ace pany us when we 

pass through thai province of nature, where animal organiza- 
tion is set "before us in miniature? Insects are commonly 
overlooked, or regarded with an eye of careless indifference. 
But the mechanism of their bodies, and their instinctive pro- 
pensities, plainly indicate a designing cause. 

There is a prodigious variety of insects, differing in figure, 
colour, and disposition of parts. But here, as in every other 
department of sentient nature, there is a close connexion be- 
tween the external form and the habits of the animal. All the 
tribes of insects proceed from parents like themselves. The 
doctrine of spontaneous or equivocal generation was famous 
among ancient philosophers ; who, although they did not think 
of applying it to the larger animals, where its falsehood was 
obvious, thought it accounted for the appearance of insects. 
Some observers of nature perceiving that swarms of insects 
appeared on different substances, such as putrid flesh and the 
leaves of plants, rashly concluded that these diminutive ani- 
mals were produced by the action of the sun on those sub- 
stances. Men long rested satisfied with this vague notion, 
which at once flattered them with the belief that they knew 
the truth, and relieved them from the trouble of careful inquiry 
and observation. But the experiments of Redi, Malphigi, 
and others, dissipated the illusion, and established the import- 
ant truth that every animal proceeds from a parent of its own 
kind. 

The exquisite organization of insects has excited the admi- 
ration ofthemosl distinguished anatomists. " After an at- 
tentive examination," says Swammerdarn, " of the nature and 
anatomy of the smallest as well as of the largest, animals, I 
cannot help allowing the least, an equal or perhaps a superior 
degree of dignity. It*, while we dissect with care the largest 
animals, we are filled with admiration at the elegant disposi- 
tion of their parts, to what a height is our astonishment raised 
when Ave discover all these parts arranged in the least, in the 
same regular manner ! " In every department of animated na- 



INSECTS. 63 

ture, design is so obvious that it is not easy to determine 
where it is most conspicuously displayed. 

Insects have organs of sense as well as the larger animals. 
We can form no conception of any animal with more senses 
than we ourselves enjoy ; and we cannot assert that all insects 
possess as many senses as are found in man. Cut we may 
confidently affirm that the Creator has bestowed upon them 
as many as are necessary for their preservation, in their re- 
spective conditions. All insects enjoy the sense of feeling in 
common with other animals. In some of them we can disco- 
ver no organs of vision ; but many of them have two eyes, 
and some of them have more. It may not be easy to point 
out the ears of these minute animals ; but it is certain that 
many of them possess the sense of hearing, or something ana- 
logous to it. Many of them seem capable of discovering their 
food by smelling ; and they appear to exercise taste in the se- 
lection of it. Our inability to discover the organs of any par- 
ticular sense in insects, is no evidence that thej r are destitute 
of that sense. The organs maybe so minute as altogether to 
elude our discernment. Besides, insects may enjoy some- 
thing analagous to our senses, though not through the medium 
of organs constructed as ours are. 

In insects (I use the word in a vague sense) respiration is 
carried on by means of trachea:, or air tubes, running below the 
skin, and communicating with the surface by numerous open- 
ings. In some of them, the air passes through the cuticle in 
every part of the body* Their organs for the reception of 
their aliment are very differently formed. Such of them as 
eat, have claws for seizing their food, and teeth for gnawing 
and comminuting it. Those which subsist by sucking fluids 
are provided with a pump, longer or shorter, according to their 
necessities. Many kinds, which at first sight appear to have 
no opening for the reception of nourishment, are furnished 
with two large pincers on their head for the conveyance of 
their aliment. Their is much variety in the internal organi- 
zation of insects ; but in all of them the great process of nutri- 
tion is successfully carried on. 

Insects can provide for their safety in different ways. Some 
escape by flight. Some, for the purpose of concealment, make 
their abode in places of the same colour with themselves. 
The skin of some is so hard as to form a kind of coat of mail ; 
and some are provided with a formidable sting. No species 
perishes, either through its own helplessness, or the violence 
of its enemies. Insects propagate their kinds, and this is ac- 
complished, as in other animals, by the co-operation of differ- 



64 INSTINCT. 

ent sexes. It may be remarked that such females as deposit 
their eggs in the bark of trees, in the earth, in the substance 
of Leaves, or in other insects, are furnished with a suitable 
tube for the accomplishment of their purpose. The male has 
no occasion for the tube, and he has it not. The provision ex- 
ists where it is needed, but extends no farther. 



CHAPTER V 



On glancing at animated nature, a grand characteristic of 
man presents itself to our view ; his capacity of reasoning, 
deliberating, planning, and varying the means which he em- 
ploys for the accomplishment of his ends according to the ex- 
igencies of the case. The inferior animals almost always 
use the same means for the attainment of the same ends. They 
are cither altogether incapable of reasoning, or possess the 
faculty r in a very low degree: and, accordingly, if we meet 
with any improvement among them, it is that of a few indi- 
viduals only, under the special instruction of man; not of 
the species, or of a society. But we see men in one age, or 
in one country, without knowledge and without curiosity, 
roaming singly or in little bands in the desert ; without fore- 
sight or steady industry; rudely feeding on the spontaneous 
fruits of the earth, or on the precarious supplies of fishing and 
hunting; and lodgingin a cave, under the projection of a rock, 
in the shelter of a thicket, or under a tent of stakes covered 
with bushes, bark, or skins ; the erection of which is scarcely 
the labour of an hour. Their clothing is as rude and scanty as 
their other accommodations. 

At another period, or in a different country, we find them 
comfortably clad; surrounded with flocks and herds, and re- 
moving from place to place for the conveniency of pasture ; 
occasionally soliciting the earth by means of agriculture to 
contribute more liberally to their subsistence and comfort; 
living in movable habitations, and enjoying unpolished plenty. 
If we still follow the stream of human improvement, after 
passing different stages and through various scenes, we come 
to a busy multitude, pursuing with ambitious industry their 
several employments, under the protection of equal laws; 
building houses ; clearing the forest; planting trees; apply- 
ing all the powersof their labour and ingenuity to the culiiva- 



INSTINCT. 65 

tion of the soil ; plunging into the bowels of the earth in quest 
of minerals; draining marshes and lakes, and straightening 
the water-course ; making roads and bridges ; digging canals 
and deepening rivers ; engaged in manufactures and com- 
merce ; exchanging the productions of one quarter of the globe 
for the superfluities of another; building and embellishing 
magnificent cities ; forming literary and scientific establish" 
ments ; impressing air, fire, and water, into their service ; 
constructing machines for the abridgment of labour; explo- 
ring the different corners of the earth, and making themselves 
acquainted with the inhabitants and the productions of every 
country; investigating the physical laws of the universe ; as- 
certaining the motions and magnitudes of the heavenly bodies ; 
calculating the distances of the sun and planets, measuring 
the velocity of light, and observing the aberration of the fixed 
stars. 

Such is a sketch of the career of society from rudeness to 
civilization, agreeably to the different states in which man- 
kind have been found.* The individual exhibits something 
of a similar progress in improvement. His first efforts are 
awkward ; his productions rude and clumsy. He improves 
by observation and practice, and gradually advances from one 
stage of excellence to another. The observation applies not 
to his mechanical skill only, but to his moral and intellectual 
attainments also. 

If we turn our eye to the inferior animals, a very different 
picture is presented to our view. Every species is stationary. 
With some minute modifications, depending on local circum- 
stances, it is the same in every age, and in every country. In 
cases, indeed, where the inferior animals are trained to the ser- 
vice of man, their natural disposition and habits are, by sub- 
jugation and discipline, occasionally, in some respects, altered 
and improved. Any progressive attainment, however, is 
merely that of the individual. Societies never advance. In 
most instances, the individual also is altogether stationary. 
The bird builds its nest, and the bee constructs its cell, as 
perfectly on the first attempt, and without either instruction 
or experience, as at any future period. This, I apprehend, is 
instinct in the strictest sense of the word. I do not pretend to 



* Nothing that has been here said is intended to apply to the 
original state of man ; bat merely to mark his progress from the 
lowest state of degradation in which he has been found to the 
highest degree of civilization. 

6* 



bb INSTINCT. 

draw a distinct line between reason and instinct, or in every 
instance to determine where the one ends and the other be- 
gins. But the genera] notion of instinct is, a propensity prior 
to experience, and independent on education. Some instincts, 
however, are capable of accommodation, or even of improve- 
ment. The creature is susceptible of some degree of educa- 
tion. But other instincts, particularly those of insects, are 
invariably the same. 

In this chapter, I purpose to take notice of some of the in- 
stincts of the inferior animals relating to the preservation of 
the individual, and to the continuation of the species. In the 
last chapter, I made some observations on corporeal organi- 
zation, and shall now attend to the corresponding instincts. 
These, at times, are so closely connected, and so run into 
each other, that it is not easy to treat of them altogether se- 
parately. As in the last chapter our attention was chiefly 
turned to organization, so in the present, instinct will be our 
main subject. 

I. The different kinds of animals instinctively make use 
of the means of defence and safety with which they are pro- 
vided. The calf pushes with its head, even before its horns 
appear; a proof that the instinct exists prior to the expan- 
sion of the parts for the employment of which it is implant- 
ed. The horse uses both his teeth and his heels, or treads 
down his adversary with his fore feet; although in a wild 
state his heels are the main instrument of defence ; and it 
may be added, that, in that state, when horses sleep, one re- 
mains awake to give warning of approaching danger. The 
dog, in combating the enemy, employs his teeth, and the fe- 
line tribe uses both teeth and claws : The insect has recourse 
to its sting. The ox never attempts to bite, nor the dog to 
butt with his head : each of them instinctively feels that he 
possess more effectual means of defence. The hare has re- 
course to flight, and commonly betakes itself to high ground, 
as the length and mulcularity of its posterior extremities give 
it an advantage in ascendingf the hill. By its doublings, it 
often perplexes and eludes the enemy. The cunning of the 
fox, in providing his food and in making his escape from his 
pursuers, is proverbial. 

The inferior animals instinctively know their enemies, and 
apprize each other of their common danger. The fox devours 
birds ; and birds no sooner see him approach than they utter 
cries, which are understood by the whole flock, and put them 
instantly upon their guard. Every dam has a call for her 
young, and in every flock and herd there are expressions which 



INSTINCT. 67 

bring numbers together; expressions of enjoyment or suffer- 
ing, of desire or aversion. By a particular sound the hen 
invites her chicks to partake of food, and they instantly com- 
ply with the invitation. By a different cry she apprizes them 
of danger on the approach of the hawk, and, although they 
have never heard the cry before, they hasten to her for con- 
cealment and shelter. 

When marmots are gambling among the grass, they station 
one of their number as sentinel upon a rock. If the sentinel 
perceive a man, an eagle, a dog, or any other enemy, by a 
whistle he gives his companions notice of their danger, and 
he is the last to enter the hole leading to their habitation. 
Monkeys, and several other animals, employ similar precau- 
tions. In many instances, animals of the same kind com- 
bine their efforts in order to repel a common enemy. A single 
rook is no match for a kite; but whenever the kite appears 
the rooks that are within sight join in attacking him. The 
migration of birds discovers a wonderful instinct, and may 
be considered as a means of security. Several kinds of them, 
at stated seasons, quit their summer abodes, and, in gTeat 
flocks, repair to the places where the temperature is most 
suited to their constitutions, or where their food is most 
abundant. 

Many animals instinctively employ proper means for heal- 
ing their wounds and curing their diseases. The Kamtscha- 
dales confess that they owe to the bears all their skill both 
in physic and surgery; that by observing the herbs with 
which those animals rub their wounds, and to which they 
have recourse when sick or languid, they have become ac- 
quainted with most of the simples in use among them, either 
in the way of internal medicine, or of external application. 
In short, as all animals possess some means of defence and 
safety, so they have corresponding instincts which prompt 
them to the due application of those means. 

II. As the inferior animals are provided with instruments 
for procuring their food, so they are endued with an instinc- 
tive skill in the use of those instruments. Every animal in- 
stinctively knows the food that will nourish it. The chick, 
almost as soon as it escapes from the shell, runs to its food, 
and pecks with its bill. The lamb, when it drops from the 
ewe, uses its legs in walking, and hastens to the teat from 
which it is to draw nourishment. The principal food of the 
rein-deer, in winter, is a kind of white moss ; and the animal 
digs with its feet under the snow in order to obtain it. Sheep 
act in a similar manner. The beaver lays up a stock of winter 



68 INSTINCT. 

provision : the squirrel does the same. Numbers of the crow 
kiad hide food in holes, when they have it in plenty, and ap- 
ply to th( ir ci nceah d stores in times of scarcity. When ra- 
vens find themselves unable to break the shells of muscles, and 
other t carry them to a great height in the air, 

mplish their purpose by letting them fall upon a rock. 
I arts of the country, furze is occasionally, in seasons 
of scarcity. t ; od for horses; but the horse can 

perform >n tor himself, lb' tramples upon the 

and p iws them with his tore feet, till the prickles 
are masl< 'or rubbed off'; and so completely does he 

the work, that the food thus prepared might be 
squeezed by the hand with impunity. 

Gass informs us, that in the country towards the source of 
the Missouri, wolves, in packs, hunt the antelope, which is 
too swift to be win down by a single wolf. The wolves take 
their station ; part of the pack begins the chase, and running 
in aciri intervals relieve each other. From Le 

Page de Pratz, in his History of Louisiana, we learn that 
wolves discover a similar sagacity in hunting the buffalo. 
The arctic gull, which is somewhat larger than the common 
gull, often pursues it. The gull, after flying for some time, 
with loud screams and evident marks of terror, drops its 
dang, which its pursuer immediately darts at, and catches 
before it falls into the sea.* In insects that undergo several 
transformations, the instinctive propensity changes with the 
appearance of the animal. Some that in one stage feed on 
dung and putrid bodies, in another extract a delicious aliment 
from herbs and flowers. This instinctive sagacity appears 
throughout all animated nature. 

III. Many animals live without any fixed habitation, and 
the dwelling which others frequent is of the simplest kind; 
as the form of the hare's. Some animals have no particular 
place of residence during winter, as many kinds of birds. 
but prepare a place in spring for bringing forth and rearing 
their young. Others, as the beaver, have no fixed residence 
in summer, but provide a comfortable habitation against the 
severity of winter. In the construction of their houses many 
animals display much sagacity; and as an example of this 
we may select thi beaver. He is a native, chiefly of high 
latitudes, and, though not possessed of all that surprising sa- 
gacity and ingenuity which some distinguished naturalists 
have ascribed to him, is endued with wonderful instincts. 

* Cook's Third Voyage, vol. iii. p. 239. 



The beavers, when numerous, construct their houses on 
the margin of ponds, lakes, and rivers. They always choose 
a place where the water is so deep as not to freeze to the bot- 
tom. When they build on small rivers, where the water is 
liable to be drained off, by a failure in the sources which sup- 
ply the stream, they provide against the evil by making a 
dam quite across the river at a convenient distance from their 
houses. This shows the foresight and sagacity of an engi- 
neer in erecting a fort, or marking out the ground for the site 
of a city. The shape of the dam varies according to circum- 
stances. If the current of the river be slow, the dam runs 
almost straight across ; but if the current be rapid, the dam 
is formed with a considerable curve towards the stream, so 
that the different parts of it support each other, like an arch. 
The materials employed are drift wood, green willows, birch 
and poplars, if they can be gotten ; also mud and stones, 
intermixed in such a manner as contributes much to the 
strength of the dam, which, when the beavers are allowed 
long to frequent a place undisturbed, by frequent repairs be- 
comes very firm. 

The beavers always cut theirwood higher up the river than 
their houses, so that they enjoy the advantage of the stream 
in conveying it to the place of its destination. On the mar- 
gin of lakes, where they have always a sufficient depth of 
water, they construct no dams. Their houses, however, are 
built of the same materials as the dams ; and their dimen- 
sions are suited to the number of inhabitants, which seldom 
exceeds four old, and six or eight young ones. The great aim 
of the beaver is to have a dry bed ; and their houses, which 
are but rude structures, have only one door, always opening 
to the water.* The otter, likewise, discovers much sagacity 
in forming his habitation. He burrows under ground, on the 
banks of rivers and lakes. He always makes the entrance to 
his house under water, working upwards towards the surface 
of the earth, and forming different chambers in his ascent, that 
in case of high floods he may still have a dry retreat. He 
forms a small air hole reaching to the surface, and, for the 
purpose of concealment, this air hole commonly opens in a 
bush. 

The marmot also displays a surprising instinct in preparing 
his habitation. In the declivity of a hill he digs two small 
subterraneous passages, opening at some distance from each 



See Hearne's Journey to the Coppermine River. 



70 INSTINCT. 

other. They gradually ascend, and approach each other, till 
they meet in a common trunk. In this common trunk, the 
marmots form a level dwelling, and carpet it carefully with 
moss and hay. One of the passages forms an entrance to 
the house; in the other the excrements are deposited. A 
number, of marmots lodge in the same house, which is formed 
by their united labour. On feeling the approach of winter, 
they closely shut up the passages to their house, and sleep 
till the return of spring. In the marmot, Spallanzani found 
living action to cease in' a temperature about 29° or 30° 
Fahrenheit. 

IV. In this section we shall take notice of instincts re- 
latino- to the continuation of the species. 

Throughout the wide extent of animated nature, so far as 
it falls under our observation, individuals die, butthe species 
continues. The author of that constitution of things, which 
carries into execution the first of these, has made an adequate 
provision for the last. The reproductive powers of the dif- 
ferent kinds of animals are admirably adjusted to their natural 
term of life, and to the dangers to which they are exposed ; 
so that no species ever perishes. Even where the life of the 
individual does not extend beyond the short space of a day, 
there is as sure a provision made for the continuation of the 
species, as where the life of the individual extends to a hun- 
dred years. The kinds which are liable to great peril and 
waste are very prolific, and the fecundity of those which are 
less exposed to danger is confined within narrower limits. 
Hares and rabbits bring forth far more young than lions and 
tigers; wrens are much more prolific than eagles; and the 
fecundity of cod-fish and salmon greatly exceeds that of the 
whale. 

The earth exhibits some wonderful organic remains. The 
bones of those animals to which the names mammoth, megathe- 
rwn, kr. have been assigned, indicate skeletons unlike to 
those of any living creature presently known ; and we pretend 
not fully to account for the remains described by Cuvier and 
others. Some of them, at least, seemed to have belonged to 
the globe, under a constitution anterior to the present. But 
although we cannot satisfactorily explain these phenomena, 
yet we are acquainted with no clear evidence of the destruc- 
tion of any species of animals that ever belonged to the earth 
under its pr< senl forms. 

For the production and rearing of their young, there is, in 
every Kind of animals, a most astonishing combination of or- 
ganization and instinct. Neither of these is sufficient by it- 



INSTINCT. 71 

self. The organization without the instinct would be unpro- 
ductive, and the instinct without the organization would be 
of no avail; but united, they fully accomplish the end. We 
are satisfied that nothing like legitimate evidence can be ad- 
duced to prove that the organization is the cause of the in- 
stinct. They are wonderfully conjoined ; but we believe 
they are independent on each other, as much as the candle 
and the candlestick, the ink and the inkhorn. Is not, then, 
the combination of two such independent circumstances, for 
an important purpose, a decisive evidence of intelligence and 
design ] If it be urged that the organization is the cause of 
the instinct, we wish to know who formed this constitution 
of things. Who formed the organization which is accom- 
panied with such instincts 1 It was not chance surely, but 
an intelligent and wise cause. 

All creatures are desirous of propagating their kinds. So 
strong is the desire, and so efficient the means, that no species 
fails in accomplishing the end. In some the season of love 
is periodical, and on its return what a striking scene is ex- 
hibited ! In describing it we may employ the language of 
Lucretius, the poet of chance philosophy. 

Nam simul ac species patefacta est verna diei, 
Et reserata viget genitalis aura Favoni; 
Aeriae primum volucres te, Diva, luumque 
Significant initum percussse corda tua vi : 
Inde ferse pecudes persultant pabula lseta, 
Et rapidos tranantamneis; ita capta lepore, 
Illecebrisque tuis omnis natura animantum 
Te sequitur cupide, quo quamque inducere pergis: 
Denique per maria, ac montes, fluviosque rapaceis, 
Frundiferasque domos avium, camposque virenteis, 
Omnibus incutiens blandum per pectora amorem, 
Efficis, et cupide generatim saecla propagent* 

We shall make a few more remarks on the instincts re- 
lating to the continuation of the species, under the heads of 
pairing, the nidification, and incubation of birds, providing 
food for the young, and defending them. 

1. When the offspring require, for some time, the attention 
and industry of both parents to support them, animals are 
found to pair ; but, in cases Avhere the female alone is able 
to raise her progeny, the sexual intercourse is promiscuous. 



De rerum natura, lib. i. 1. 10. 



72 INSTINCT. 

The affectionate attention of the parents is always adapted to 
the condition of their young, and is continued towards them 
till they are capable "to provide for themselves. Man is a 
pairing animal. Some quadrupeds pair, and pairing is com- 
mon among the leathered tribes. In winter, indeed, birds in 
general are without any fixed habitation; and many kinds of 
them appear in great flocks, without any particular attention 
of one individual to another. On the return of spring-, how- 
ever, the scene changes. The general society is dissolved, 
and many partnerships, consisting each of a male and female, 
are formed. The pair fix on a suitable spot, and by their 
joint labour construct a habitation. 

2. Most birds prepare their nests with much care; and 
many of them discover ingenuity in the design, and neatness 
in the execution. But the ingenuity and the neatness belong to 
the species, and in no degree characterize individuals. They 
have no need of an apprenticeship. The nest of those birds 
which have paired for the first time is not more rude or in- 
convenient than that of those which have repeated the labour 
of nidification for a number of years. There is no deficiency 
in the first from want of instruction and practice, and the last 
have gained nothing by observation and experience. 

The dove that perch'd upon the Tree of Life, 

And made her bed among its thickest leaves; 

All the wing'd habitants of Paradise, 

Whose songs once mingled with the songs of Angels, 

Wove their first nests as curiously and well 

As the wood-minstrels in our evil day. 

The crow and the magpie, the lark and the linnet, and 
every other kind, has each a peculiar manner of building its 
nest; and every individual of the same species, in similar 
circumstances, follows the same model, and uses similar 
materials. The instinctive propensity seems, in various in- 
stances, to accommodate itself to peculiar circumstances, 
both in building the nest, and in the process of incubation. 
In countries infested by monkeys, some birds, which in other 
climates build in bushes or in the clefts of trees, suspend 
their nests upon a slender twig, and so elude the mischievous 
propensities of the monkey. With us, ravens build on trees ; 
but in the cold climates of Iceland and Greenland, they con- 
struct tljeir nests in the holes of rocks. 

The nest is always suited to the size of the bird, and to the 
number of its eggs and young. Many small birds display 



INSTINCT. 73 

much sagacity in concealing- their nests by tufts of grass, or 
by twigs and leaves. In the nest we see a receptacle pro- 
vided for eggs before they come to maturity, yea before the 
bird knows that it is to lay them. Each species lays a de- 
terminate number: and it appears that, in this process, some 
birds, at least, do not act under the influence of physical ne- 
cessity, but have, to a certain extent, an instinctive volition. 
The solon goose,if undisturbed, lays only one egg; but if that 
be taken away, she lays a second; if the second be removed, 
she lays a third ; but no more for the season. In a number of 
instances, if one egg be daily abstracted from the nest, the 
bird continues laying till she obtain her complement. In this 
way a swallow has been made to lay nineteen eggs in one 
season. 

In general, the smallest kinds of birds are most prolific ; 
but from this general rule there are some exceptions. The 
eagle lays one, sometimes two eggs; the crow four or five; 
the titmouse seven or eight; the small European wren fifteen : 
the humming bird, however, a very little creature, lays only 
two; and yet the humming birds are more numerous in Ame- 
rica than the wrens in Europe, being protected by the small- 
ness of their size, the rapidity of their flight, and their daring 
courage. After the complement of eggs is provided, a new 
and interesting scene is exhibited. All the former habits of 
the birds seem at once to forsake it. The animal that before 
was almost in perpetual motion, hopping from twig to twig, 
flitting from tree to tree, rising into the air, flying to conside- 
rable distances, chirping and singing, becomes at once mo- 
tionless and mute. She takes possession of her nest, and 
with assiduity broods on her eggs. In some instances, as in 
rooks and in crows, the male supplies her with food ; and in 
others, as in pigeons, relieves her by filling her place. In 
this way. the small eggs, which otherwise would soon lose 
their heat, are always kept at the due temperature. We may 
add that the albumen, or white of the egg, is a feeble con- 
ductor of caloric, and consequently tends to preserve, during 
the occasional absence of the parent bird, that equable tem- 
perature which is so necessary to the evolution of the ovular 
embryo. 

The eggs of the larger birds, on account of their greater 
size, retain heat longer than those of the smaller birds ; ac- 
cordingly the larger birds occasionally leave their nests for 
some time, without injury to the process of incubation. Some 
of them, however, when they go to feed, cover their eggs ; 
the eider duck does it with down taken from her own breast. 
7 



74 iKpnscT. 

But small birds sit most assiduously, otherwise their eggs 
could not be hatched. Here we find an amazing adaptation 
of instinct to the circumstances of the animal, for which we 
see no rational way of accounting, without ultimately resort- 
ing to a wise first cause. The bird does not understand the 
process which it is carrying on: it does not know the end 
to be accomplished ; yet it carries on the process with the 
most minute precision, in opposition to all its habits during 
the other seasons of the year, and in the absence of disastrous 
accidents, arising from foreign causes, it accomplishes the 
end with infallible certainty. 

Fish, with a few exceptions, are oviparous ; and generally, 
after depositing their eggs, pay no farther attention to their 
progeny. There are, however, some striking exceptions. 
The female cayman repairs to the banks of a river ; forms a 
large hole in the sand, and there deposits her eggs. She 
covers them carefully, and rolls herself on the place to smooth 
it, that it may not be discovered. She leaves her eggs to be 
hatched in the sand ; but her instinctive propensity prompts 
her to return, at the exact time, to uncover them and break 
the shells, when the young caymans come forth. 

3. The instinctive propensities of animals do not terminate 
with the appearance of their progeny in the world, but con- 
tinue as long as the aid of the parent is needful for rearing 
the offspring. Most animals have a strong affection for their 
young, which manifests itself in providing food for them. 
And in order to the supply of this food, there is, in many in- 
stances, a wonderful physical constitution in the parent, as 
well as surprising instincts in the progeny. Thus in the 
human race, such is the constitution of the mother, that she 
secretes a nutritious fluid for the support of her child, and 
the secretion of this fluid accompanies the need for it. It 
does not depend on volition. It does not exist at any other 
time. And in the child what a wonderful instinct displays 
itself in the complicated muscular action by which this fluid 
is obtained. Sucking is an operation in which the infant 
soon becomes expert ; but few grown persons can perform 
it. The instinctive skill is lost, when the need for it ceases. 

In many quadrupeds, as well as in the human race, the mo- 
ther secretes a nutritious fluid for the support of her offspring, 
and she can yield nourishment to her young while she her- 
self is feeding. There is a remarkable correspondence be- 
tween the instinct of the young animal, and the provision 
made for its support. Almost as soon as it comes into the 
world, it seeks for the teat from which it is to draw nourish- 



INSTINCT. 75 

ment. Now, how happens it that this fluid is secreted just 
at the time when it is needed"? Who established that con- 
stitution of the animal by which the secretion takes place? 
How shall we account for the young animal, almost at the 
moment of its birth, groping for the organ from which it is to 
receive food, and employing the means necessary for obtain- 
ing that food 1 

Human infancy is long, and we find a corresponding affec- 
tion and solicitude on the part of the parents. If a child be 
delicate and sickly, the parents feel for it a more tender af- 
fection, and exercise towards it a more assiduous attention 
than towards the infant of a more robust constitution. The 
watchful care accommodates itself to the exigency of the 
case, and generates a degree of affection, without which the 
anxiety and toil would be altogether insupportable. We may 
trace this process in the human mind for a little way, but it 
ultimately terminates in the instinetive principles of our na- 
ture. Young persons are capable of receiving instruction as 
well as food from their parents, and accordingly in the human 
race parental affection is permanent. After it has ceased to 
display itself in nourishing and defending, it appears in in- 
structing and directing. 

Birds do not secrete a fluid for the nourishment of their 
young; but they are diligent in providing food for them, 
which is earnestly solicited and greedily received. We may 
here remark, that it is the albumen chiefly which is expended 
in the formation of the chick; the yolk of the egg, without 
undergoing any considerable change, being wrapt up in its 
intestines to nourish it, till it receives or is capable of gather- 
ing other food. In most instances young birds would inevi- 
tably perish, without the nursing care of the parents. In 
some cases, however, the young can provide for themselves 
almost as soon as they escape from the shell, and in these in- 
stances the fostering instinct of the parent soon disappears. 
Some insects display an astonishing instinct in providing 
food for their young before they are hatched.* Others, which 
make no such provision, lay their eggs in places where the 
young, when they appear, can easilyfind subsistence. These 
instincts, must proceed either from the animals themselves, or 
from some Being possessed of reason and intelligence; but 
they cannot originate with the inferior animal itself, for it is 
obviously destitute of reason, and incapable of that foresight 



See Smellie's Philosophy of Natural History, v. i. p. 148, 



76 INSTINCT. 

and wisdom which its cares and precautions indicate. In 
order to account for these instincts, we must ascend to a wise 
and benevolent Intelligence. 

4. All animals defend their young; and, in obeying this 
instinctive impulse, the mother se< ms, in many instances, to 
lose her natural habits, and to assume a new character. The 
domestic hen, a stupid and timorous bird, becomes fierce and 
violent in defending her chickens. Even the harmless and 
inoffensive ewe assumes a menacing air, stamps with her 
foot, and seems to bid defiance to those who approach her 
lamb. But as the lamb acquires strength, and is able to run 
with its mother, her assumed character forsakes her, and she 
has recourse to flight. Hinds anxiously conceal their fawns, 
and, in order to draw the dogs away from them, present them- 
selves to be chased. It is at once amusing and affecting to 
observe the artifices employed by the lapwing to decoy the 
intruder to a distance from her young. 

The Kamtschadales never venture to fire upon a young 
bear when the mother is near ; for if the cub falls, she be- 
comes enraged to a degree little short of madness, and if she 
gets sight of the enemy, will only quit her revenge with her 
life. The same instinct is remarkably apparent in some in- 
habitants of the waters. The morse and the polar white bear 
have a great affection for their cubs, and are courageous and 
active in defending them.* The sea otter pines to death at 



* Speaking of the morse, Captain King 1 says, "On the ap- 
proach of the boats towards the ice, they took their young 
ones under their fins, and attempted to escape with them into 
the sea. Some whose cubs were killed, and left floating on the 
surface of the water, rose again and carried them down, some- 
times just as our men were on the point of taking them into 
the boat, and could be traced bearing them to a considerable 
distance through the water, which was stained with their blood. 
They were afterwards observed bringing them at intervals above 
the surface, as if for air, and again plunging under it with a 
horrid bellowing. The female, in particular, whose young one 
had been killed and taken into the boat, became so furious, that 
she struck her two tusks through the bottom of the cutter." 

The affection between the polar bear and her cub is so great, 
that they will die rather than desert each other. " We saw two 
white bears in the water, to which we immediately gave chase 
in the jolly boat, and killed them both. The larger, which pro- 
bably was the dam of the younger, being shot first, the other 
would not quit, but remained swimming about, till after being 



INSTINCT. 77 

the loss of its young, and breathes its last on the spot where 
they have been taken from it. Throughout every province of 
animated nature we meet with wonderful instincts, all direct- 
ed to the preservation of the individual, and to the continua- 
tion of the species. Every instinct appears exactly in its 
proper place. Were the instincts to be altered, or those be- 
longing- to one species transferred to another, the harmony of 
the system would be deranged, and disorder ensue. For in- 
stance, were the sheep, its time of gestation continuing the 
same as at present, to come in season at the same time with 
the mare, it would bring forth at a period when the inclemen- 
cy of the weather would destroy both the mother and her 
young. 

If instincts result, as some have imagined, from conforma- 
tion of parts, who organized the animal 1 If they flow from 
mechanical impulse, who constructed the machine 1 Where 
is the moving power? To talk of attraction, gravitation, na- 
ture, appetency, &c. in order to account for the existence or 
characteristic propensities of living creatures, is merely dark- 
ening counsel by a multitude of words. It is a vain attempt to 
substitute sound for sense ; for where is there any rational 
way of accounting for the various instincts of animals, but by 
referring them to a powerful, wise, and good Intelligence 1 
In the instincts of the creature we see the perfections of the 
Creator; and may apply to instincts in general what Dr. 
Reid says of bees in the construction of their cells. " They 
work most geometrically, without any knowledge of geome- 
try ; somewhat like a child, who by turning the hand of an 
organ makes good music, without any knowledge of music. 
The art is not in the child, but in him who makes the organ. 
In like manner, when a bee makes its combs so geometrically, 
the geometry is not in the bee, but in that great Geometrician 
who made the bee, and made all things in number, weight, 
and measure." If we do not see other animals displaying 
the geometry of the bee, we observe them, in a similar man- 
ner, employing suitable and effectual means for the accom- 
plishment of their ends. 

Thus, in our cursory glance at animated nature, we have 
seen great uniformity accompanied by surprising variety. 
The same general outline, with various modifications, pre- 
vails widely in the formation of living creatures. If we ex- 



fired upon several times it was shot dead." — See Cook's Third 
Voyage, v. iii. p. 248, &c. 

7* 



78 THE OCEAN. 

amine any one animal, we find its parts admirably adapted to 
each other. They form a harmonious whole. In every species 
we see an astonishing relation of the organs of one sex to 
those of another. By means of bodily conformation and in- 
stinctive propensity, an adequate provision is made for the 
preservation of the individual, and the continuation of the 
species. Everything goes on in a regular and uniform 
course. We never see any new species of animals appearing, 
nor any old kinds ceasing to exist. We inert with no me- 
tamorphoses of animals into a species different from that 
of their parents. By adventitious circumstances, the size, 
strength, and, in some measure, the instincts of animals, may 
be altered ; but still the character of the species remains es- 
sentially the same. 

There is an amazing gradation of animated beings, but 
even the classes that seem most nearly allied are distinct. 
Each kind continues what it originally was. W T e never see 
one species either suddenly, or gradually in a long succes- 
sion of ages, transformed into another. No species either 
rises or falls in the scale. Men, and all other animals, con- 
tinue such as they have been from the earliest records of 
time. The different species approach each other ; but still 
they are separated by an impassable barrier. Animated na- 
ture thus exhibits undeniable marks of design, and conse- 
quently leads us, with irresistible force, to a powerful, wise, 
and good Being, who created, and continues to superintend 
the system. 

We now proceed to inanimated nature,- and I apprehend 
we will find it wisely constituted, and bearing a gracious re- 
lation to living creatures. As nothing within the sphere of 
our knowledge gives us any reason whatever to believe that 
the one of these formed the other, we must attribute both to 
the power, wisdom, and goodness of a Supreme Intelligence, 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE OCEAN. 



The terraqueous globe is an oblate spheroid, having its 
equatorial diameter somewhat longer than the polar. The 
globular figure is the fittest for the steady motion of the earth 
in its orbit, and for its diurnal rotation on its axis : it is also 
the most capacious. The earth is so firmly compacted, that 



THE OCEAN. 79 

although it moves in its orbit with the prodigious velocity of 
a thousand miles in a minute, yet no part of it is dissipated 
or shattered. It is a globe of great solidity. Some, indeed, 
have supposed that there are vast caverns in its bowels : but 
the experiments of Dr. Maskel/neand Professor Play fair, on 
the mountain Schehallan, seem to disprove the supposition ; 
as they show the earth to be mo"e dense than that mountain, 
and nearly five times more dens? than water. 

On a general survey of the earth, the first thing that strikes 
us is its division into sea and dry land, the ocean occupying 
more than two-thirds of the surface of the terraqueous globe. 
For the ocean there is no physical necessity. The globe 
might have existed without it, and probably some of the orbs 
of the solar system are not provided with a proportion of 
water equal to that which obtains on the earth which we 
inhabit. We may suppose earth and water to exist together 
without design. But if it shall appear that the ocean is a 
great component part of one whole, that it is not only admi- 
rably constituted in itself, but that it is essential to an esta- 
blished system, then we are entitled to adduce it as an evi- 
dence of design. If it be well fitted for accomplishing the 
purposes which it serves in the system, it is a proof of wis- 
dom : if these purposes be beneficial, if they contribute to 
the existence and happiness of sentient beings, we contend 
that it is a display cf goodness. 

Let us glance, 

I. At the ocean considered in itself. 

II. At the purposes which it serves in the system of our 
world. 

Under the first of these heads, we shall take notice of its 
saline qualities, its tides, and its inhabitants. 

I. — 1. In attending to the ocean, we are struck with the 
saltness of its waters. This is one grand means of resisting 
putrefaction, and of preserving the great fluid mass in a whole- 
some state; for if the sea were not impregnated with saline 
bodies, the putrefaction of the great mass of animal and of 
vegetable matter which it contains would soon prove fatal to 
the inhabitants of the earth. 

Fresh and stagnant waters soon putrefy. But in the waters 
of the ocean, stagnation and putrefaction are equally un- 
known. According to some, the ocean is Salter in tropical 
climates than in higher latitudes. But the observations and 
experiments of De Pages present a different result. The 
fact, however, is certain, that the water of the ocean is as free 
from putrefaction at the equator as toward the pole. And we 



80 THE OCEAN. 

may observe, that if within the tropics, where the tempera- 
ture is highest and the tendency to putrefaction greatest, 
the Water is not more salt, it there feels most sensibly the 
current of rotation, or the general motion of the water from 
east to west, particularly observable within the torrid zone. 
The saltness of the ocean is everywhere proportioned to the 
need for it, in order to the preservation of the water in a salu- 
brious si 

To me it seems evident that the saline qualities of the 
ocean are a proof not of design only, but of wisdom and 
goodness also; for here we see means adapted to an end : 
these means answer the end ; and the end itself is beneficial. 
I see no physical necessity for the saltness of the ocean. The 
water, at first fresh and stagnant, might have become one great 
putrid mass, destroying sentient beings in the deep, and dif- 
fusing pestilential and deadly vapours over the dry land. In 
order^ then, to account for the saline impregnation of the 
ocean, we must have recourse to a designing cause. 

Some have endeavoured to account fur the saltness of the 
sea, by supposing that saline particles are washed down from 
the earth by the rivers, and that the ocean has derived its 
saltness from the accumulation of these particles. This hy- 
pothesis does not militate, in any degree, against the exist- 
ence of a wise designing cause ; for still we see adequate 
means employed for the accomplishment of a beneficial end, 
and whatever these means are, the argument in proof of 
design is the same. But to me the hypothesis seems pressed 
with insuperable difficulties. Were it true, we must either 
suppose the saltness of the sea to be increasing, or the saline 
particles of the earth to be exhausted. There is no proof, 
however, that either of these is the case. The last, indeed, 
is altogether out of the question : and as to the saltness of 
the sea, I believe it was the same five thousand years ago as 
at this day. 

According to Davy, almost all solids and fluids, even the 

* If the mean saltness of the sea were much greater under 
the equator than in the temperate zone, a current at the bottom, 
from the equator towards the pole, would be the result. The 
mean den it) of the water of the sea, on an average, is 

From 0° to 14° hit 1 

From 15° to 25° 1.0282. 

From 30° to 44° 1.0278. 

From 54° to 6U° 1.0271. 

Humboldt, Pers. Nat, i. 64. 



THE OCEAN. 81 

purest distilled water, contain saline matter. But I know of 
no proof that the accumulation of this matter in the ocean is 
derived from the rivers. If it were so, would not the sea be 
more salt towards the mouths of great rivers than at a dis- 
tance from them 1 This is not the case. Lakes, which have 
an outlet, are found to contain fresh water: those that have 
no outlet are generally salt. But if the sea derived its salt- 
ness from the rivers, then those lakes that are fed by rivers 
should discover the saline quality in their waters, even 
though they have an outlet; for I know of no principle by 
the operation of which the saline matter can be entirely car- 
ried off through the outlet. The water of Lake Ontario is as 
sweet as that of Lakes Superior or Michigan; and the inter- 
vening lakes, Huron and Erie, discover no more saltness 
than those from which they draw their supplies. We may 
add that the De la Plata, Mississippi, and Nile, are as sweet 
when they meet with the waters of the ocean as at their 
source. Lakes without an outlet, or inland seas where the 
surface of water is too small to feel, in any considerable 
degree, the attraction of the sun and moon, are very salt ; 
and, from the conformation of the adjacent lands, they are 
commonly much agitated by winds. 

The Dead Sea, or Lake Asphaltites, has been long famous 
on account of its saline impregnation ; and although many 
fables have been related concerning it by Josephus and 
others, it is true that its waters are of uncommon density. 
It contains upwards of forty per cent, of saline matter, chiefly 
muriate of magnesia and of lime. The Caspian Sea is, at 
least, as salt as the ocean, except where it is sweetened by 
the waters of the Volga, which is about the distance of ten 
leagues from the influx of that river. It is also much agi- 
tated by winds. The Black Sea is less salt than the ocean ; 
but several great rivers pour their waters into it, and a con- 
stant current sets through the Straits of Constantinople to- 
wards the Propontis. The Lake Aral is very salt. Thus, 
in small seas, there is a compensation, in one way or another, 
for the want of tides. Now, if the quantity of saline impreg- 
nation is, in every instance, proportioned to the circumstances 
of the case, is not this an evidence of design! 

2. The tides keep the water of the ocean in perpetual mo- 
tion, and contribute to the preservation of its salubrity. They 
also afford a hint to man when investigating the laws of na- 
ture : they are an instance of the great law or fact of gravita- 
tion, which so widely pervades the universe. They depend 
chiefly on the ratio in which gravity acts, and form one in- 



82 



THE OCEAN. 



stance of the wisdom and froodness manifested in that ratio, 
fides are owing principally to the action of the moon. If 
that planet were quiescent, we would have high water twice 
every Jl hours. But the moon is continually in motion round 
the earth, and advances so far every 12 hours, as to make it 
about 25 minutes ere any meridian of the earth, after it has 
performed half a revolution, come under her centre; and con- 
sequently abont IS hours and 25 minutes intervene between 
the high water of two successive tides. 

Into the theory and phenomena ot the tides, it is not the 
object of the present treatise to enter. Suffice it. therefore, to 
say, that the tides contribute to the accomplishment of a 
beneficial purpose ; for, by the saltncss of the water, and the 
action of the tides, the ocean is preserved from stagnation 
and putrefaction. Here we see one purpose of a secondary 
planet attending a globe constituted as ours is. There are no 
tides, it may be alleged, in the Mediterranean and Baltic ; 
and yet these seas, although not uncommonly salt, are as free 
from putrefaction as any of the waters of the ocean. In the 
Mediterranean, however, there is a tide, though small and 
irregular. But there is gem-rally a current passing through 
the Straits of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean; it sometimes 
sets out when the ebb tide in the Atlantic is great. In the 
Baltic the water is not so salt as in the ocean.° Its saltness 
is increased by a westerly gale, and the waters raised some- 
what like a tide. But a current generally sets out through 
the Sound, occasioned, no doubt, by the rivers which empty 
themselves into the Baltic. These currents prevent stagna- 
tion in the Mediterranean and Baltic. Where tides do°not 
act a substitute is provided. 

In connection with tides, we may mention the currents 
which abound in the ocean, and the causes of these phenomena 
are more numerous than at first sight might be imagined. 
They may be occasioned by the conformation of the ci 
of the channel of the ocean, by a difference in beat or salt- 
ness, by the melting of the polar ices, or by the inequality of 
evaporation in different latitudes. Several of these causes 
may at times concur. The Gulf-stream is a remarkable cur- 
rent, which leaves the coast of Africa about the latitude of the 
Cape de Verd islands, traverses the ocean to the American 
shore, sweeps the gulf of Mexico, stretches north as far as 
the bank of Newfoundland in 41°, and turns eastward to- 
wards Madeira. It forms a great sea-river in some | 
near eighty leagues broad. Its waters take about two years 
and ten months to perform their circuit ; and, in some p'laces 



THE OCEAN. 83 

of their course, are at a much higher temperature than the 
waters of the surrounding ocean. 

3. The ocean is a great scene of animal existence and en- 
joyment: and it is preserved in a fit state for being so by its 
saltness and its tides. It is replenished with innumerable 
inhabitants, all fitted for the element in which they reside ; 
and all, so far as we are capable of judging, enjoying a hap- 
piness suitable to their natures. Thus, I think, the ocean 
proves the existence of a powerful, wise, and good Intelli- 
gence, by the provision made for maintaining the salubrity of 
its waters, and by its innumerable inhabitants. 

II. Let us glance at the purposes which the ocean serves 
in the system of our world. 

Here we find it of essential importance. Without it the 
globe would be a barren and lifeless desert, presenting one 
uniform prospect of dismal sterility, and melancholy silence; 
adorned by no verdure, and cheered by no busy scenes of 
life and enjoyment. To the ocean we are indebted for the 
beauty and fertility of the dry land. It is the great fountain 
of moisture; refreshing and fertilizing the earth, and furnish- 
ing an abundant and wholesome beverage to man and beast. 
Water is exhaled from the ocean; floats in the atmosphere in 
the form of vapour; and is precipitated in dew, hail, rain, or 
snow, supplying the aliment of vegetation to plants and 
herbs, and yielding a salubrious drink to living creatures. 
By the channel of the rivers it again returns to the bosom of 
the ocean, and in this circle it perpetually moves, supporting 
a great system of animal and vegetable existence. It de- 
serves to be remarked, that water, although it proceeds from 
the sea, yet is fresh when it descends in rain ; an effect not 
easily produced by artificial means. If much ingenuity be 
required to render sea-water sweet, shall we deny the wisdom 
of Him who constructed the great laboratory, in which the 
process is carried on with unfailing precision and success, on 
the vast scale of nature 1 And if wisdom be displayed in 
the accomplishment of the end, that end is unquestionably a 
proof of goodness. It is the means of supplying a necessary 
aliment suited to our constitution, and to which, by admix- 
ture, we can communicate any taste or flavour that we please. 
The earth is so formed as to receive the water into reservoirs, 
to filtrate it, and to give it out in perennial streams, for the 
constant supply of our wants. 

At first sight the ocean seems an insurmountable barrier 
between different portions of the globe, separating them as ef- 
fectually from each other as if they were parts of different 



84 



VEGETATION*. 



planets. But we soon perceive that, even in this point of 
view, it harmonizes with the rest of the system, giving; scope 
to human ingenuity, and inviting to the exercise of vigorous 
exertion. Men soon learn to commit themselves to the sea, 
and to combat winds and waves. Even before civilization is 
far advanced, intrepid skill or casual misfortune carries them 
to great distances, and spreads them widely over the face of 
the earth. The inhabitants of the far-scattered islands of the 
Pacific Ocean speak nearly the same language; and must all, 
at no very distant period, have sprung from a common origin, 
and diverged from a central point. 

The ocean becomes the medium of a vast and boundless 
intercourse between nations. It facilitates the communica- 
tion between the most distant parts of the earth, and the ex- 
change of the commodities of different climates. No coun- 
try is supplied with such a rich variety of the necessaries and 
accommodations of life, but that it may admit the introduction 
of foreign superfluities, and even the poorest furnishes mate- 
rials for exportation. The ocean is the great medium of 
commercial intercourse. It also modifies the temperature of 
the atmosphere on the land, rendering it warmer than it would 
otherwise be in high latitudes, and cooling it in tropical cli- 
mates. It is, also, an inexhaustible storehouse of human food. 

How far, and in what particular manner, the ocean and the 
exhalations from it, contribute to the purification of the air 
that has been contaminated by the vegetation of plants, and 
the respiration of animals, 1 do not at present inquire; al- 
though I am satisfied that their operation, in this respect, is 
of essential importance. Thus, wisdom and goodness appear 
in covering such a portion of the globe with water, and in 
preserving it from stagnation and putrefaction. In this way 
an inexhaustible fountain of moisture and fertilization is es- 
tablished ; a fit place of residence for innumerable sentient 
beings is provided ; the means of facilitating the intercourse 
of distant nations are devised ; and a great storehouse is 
opened for supplying the wants, and diversifying the enjoy- 
ments of man. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE GENERAL APPEARANCE OF THE EARTH, AND VEGETATION. 

Had man and the inferior animals been cast upon a globe 
where naked sterility had established a perpetual empire, 



\ l-.c ETATION. 85 

where no torrent rushed from the mountain, no shower dropt 
on the field, and no crops waved on the plain, they must have 
perished. Deep and mournful silence must have reigned on 
the dreary landscape, without anything to enliven the solitude 
or diversify the sad uniformity of the scene. But the earth 
is liberally provided with means of subsistence to its nume- 
rous and various inhabitants. It exhibits a variety fitted to 
charm the imagination, to exercise the industry and ingenuity, 
to supply the wants and multiply the enjoyments of man. 
It is a rich storehouse abundantly furnished with necessaries 
and comforts for every living being which it contains. It is 
indented by arms of the sea, which bring the treasures of the 
deep into the bosom of the dry land : it is watered by rivers, 
which at once drain off superfluous moisture and spread the 
aliment of vegetation over their banks, and which facilitate 
the communication between inland countries and the sea, and 
between the different places contiguous to their stream. Its 
surface abounds with gentle undulations ; sometimes sinks 
into deep valleys, or rises into lofty mountains : but, gene- 
rally speaking, the farther it recedes from the ocean, the 
higher it rises above the level of the waters ; so that rivers 
run towards the sea, and, in most cases, marshes may be 
drained. The high lands serve as a reservoir for supplying 
springs and rivers, and shelter the lower grounds. The 
mountain and the valley furnish each a proper soil for plants 
of different kinds. 

Even the bowels of the earth are replenished with mate- 
rials which can be turned to the comfort and accommodation 
of mankind. Thence is digged the ore of iron, the most use- 
ful, and the most abundant also, of all the metals. There are 
found gold and silver which serve as the medium of exchange. 
Several minerals are possessed of much medicinal virtue; 
and some fossil substances serve for fuel and other valuable 
purposes. The face of the earth is adorned and enriched with 
a great variety of vegetables, each propagating its kind ; for 
every plant, as well as every animal, proceeds in one way or 
another from a parent of the same kind with itself. The doc- 
trine of equivocal generation exists only in the visions of an 
unenlightened imagination : it has no place in the provinces 
of nature. 

The anatomy and physiology of vegetables might furnish 
us, even in the present imperfect state of our knowledge of 
these subjects, with many curious and interesting observations; 
but I purpose merely to make a few remarks, in order to show 
that the hand of the wise and good Being who manifests him- 
8 



86 VEGETATION. 

self in the creation of animals, is equally apparent in the ve- 
getable kingdom. 

Every vegetable is capable of bearing seed ; and seed, 
when properly deposited, becomes the germ of future plants. 
In many iirstanci a plants may he multiplied in different ways ; 
but we" must look to seeds as the great means by which vege- 
tables are propagated. And what a wonderful thing is a 
a h\ doi - it germinate more than a grain of sand on 
the shore, or a pebble in the channel of the brook? Must we 
not account for its configuration and vegetable power, by re- 
sorting to a wise and good First Cause? Without the ad- 
mission of such a cause, vegetable as well as animal life sets 
us completely at defiance. For the first seeds, then, we must 
have recourse to the great Intelligence who stands at the head 
of the universe ; and in his power, wisdom, and goodness only, 
can we discover an adequate cause for that constitution of 
things by which seeds vegetate and continue their kinds. 

Iif order to vegetation many independent conditions must 
meet together. We must have seed, and, generally speak- 
ing, a vegetable mould. If the surface of the dry land had 
been one°continuous plate of granite, it could not have af- 
forded nourishment to seed, it could not have imbibed mois- 
ture, no verdure could have adorned the hill, and no crop 
could have gladdened the plain ; but a vegetable soil is pro- 
vided. Water also must be present; for if seeds be dried, 
and moisture completely excluded, they will not germinate. 
As moisture then is requisite, this connects every seed with 
the ocean, the great fountain of waters. But seed, soil, and 
moisture, will not of themselves produce a single plant. There 
must be a certain degree of heat also ; for no seed will ger- 
minate and grow below the freezing point. This connects 
every seed with the sun, the source of heat in our system. 
Yet "after we have found seed, soil, moisture, and heat, some- 
thing farther i> -till requisite in order to vegetation. We 
must have air, yea atmospheric air, or something nearly re- 
sembling it; for seeds will not germinate, and plants will 
not grow, under the exhausted receiver of an air pump, nor 
without the presence of oxygen gas : the proportion of oxy- 
gen gas in atmospheric air is more favourable to germination 
than any other. Besides, the presence of light is requisite to 
give plants their peculiar colour and flavour.* Thus, to light 

* See Ellis' Inquiry into the changes induced on atmospheric 
air, p. 1> &c. 

The late Professor Robison of Edinburgh brought up from a 



VEGETATION. 87 

and to the atmosphere which surrounds the earth, are we in- 
dehted for the beauty that adorns it. 

It is evident then that before we can procure a single stalk 
of grass many conditions are requisite, and the existence of 
any one of those conditions does not necessarily involve the 
existence of any other. They are independent upon each 
other. We can conceive a globe to have existed without 
a vegetable soil; a vegetable soil, without a seed; seed, 
without the sun ; the sun, without the ocean ; the ocean, 
without the atmosphere. But all these are requisite in 
order to germination and vegetation. What but a design- 
ing cause could assemble and combine all these independent 
conditions, so as to exert a harmonious action in the accom- 
plishment of an important end 1 If the means be adequate 
to the end, the designing cause must be wise ; for in what 
does wisdom consist but in choosing right ends, and in em- 
ploying proper means for the accomplishment of those ends ? 
And if the end promote the comfort and happiness of sen- 
tient beings, then the designing cause must be good ; for the 
diffusion of happiness is the characteristic feature in the at- 
tribute of goodness. 

Seeds consist essentially of three parts ; a cotyledon or co- 
tyledons, a radicle, and a plumula. The cotydelons constitute 
the most bulky part of the seed ; and as the yolk of the egg 
nourishes the embryo chick, so they contain a quantity of 
food for nursing the embryo plant, till by means of its radicle 

coal pit some whitish looking - plants; but nobody knew what 
they were. On being allowed to grow in the light, the white 
leaves dropped off, and were succeeded by green buds. It then 
appeared that the plants were tansy. On farther inquiry, he 
learned that the sods on which the plants grew had been taken 
down into the pit from a garden in the neighbourhood. Al- 
though the plant continued to grow in its new situation, yet 
neither in colour, odour, nor combustibility, did it at all resem- 
ble plants of the same species which had vegetated under ex- 
posure to light. He made the experiment, with great care, on 
lovage, mint, and other plants. They all throve in darkness, but 
with a blanched foliage, no way resembling'the ordinary foliage, 
of the respective plants. Even after the g'reen colour in plants 
is formed, it disappears on the exclusion of light. 

Captain Parry, in his First Voyage, tells us, that at Melville 
Island, he raised mustard and cress in his cabin by the heat of 
the stove; they were colourless from want of light, but had much 
ol the same pungent achromatic taste as if they had grown in 
ordinarv circumstances. 



88 VEGETATION. 

and plumula, which become the root and the stem, it is able 
to absorb nourishment from the earth and the air. 

The fond laid up in the cotyledons nourishes the radicle, 
which increases in size, and is converted into a root. The 
cotyledons now assume the appearance of leaves, and show 
themselves above the ground, forming what are called the 
seminal leaves of the plant. The roots absorb food from the 
earth; but this food, before it can be applied to the purposes 
of vegetation, requires to be digested. This process it un- 
dergoes, at first, in the seminal leaves. It is then carried to 
the plumula, which increases in size, rises out of the earth, 
becomes the stem of the plant, and puts forth branches 
and leaves. The seminal leaves now become useless, and 
decay and drop off; but the plant cannot be deprived of them 
sooner without destruction. 

When thus perfecl in all its parts, the young plant conti- 
nues to absorb food from the earth. This food, under the 
name of sap, is conveyed in appropriate vessels to the leaves, 
where it is digested, and converted into the peculiar juice of 
the plant. The sap. after undergoing digestion in the leaves, 
is returned to nourish and increase the plant, which it does by 
depositing a layer of new matter round the old wood. The 
new layer, or unhardened wood of the present year, is named 
alburnum. It is probable that the food, extracted from the 
earth, is imbibed by the extremities of the roots only. Hojv 
this food is made to enter into the roots and ascend through 
the. sap-vessels, I do not pretend to explain. The fact is cer- 
tain; and whether we attempt to account for it by capillary at- 
traction, or any other way, we see adequate means employed 
for the accomplishment of an important end. 

The sap of most plants, when collected in the spring, ap- 
pears to the sight and taste little else than water; but it soon 
undergoes fermentation and putrefaction. The perspiration 
from the leaves is, for the most part, a clear watery liquor, 
like the sap, and subject to similar chemical changes. The 
sap increases in density in ascending the tree towards the 
leaves, Mr. Knight thinks this is owing to its being mixed 
with a quantity of matter previously deposited in the albur- 
num for that purpose, and ready to be assimilated to the dif- 
ferent vegetable organs. According to him, plants are em- 
ployed in the latter part of the summer in preparing food for 
the expanding of the buds and blossoms in the succeeding 
spring. This food when prepared is deposited in the albur- 
num. There it is lodged during the winter, and next spring, 



VEGETATION. 89 

mixing with the ascending sap it affords nourishment to the 
buds and leaves. 

In plants, the leaves perform the office both of the stomach 
and lungs in animals. While they receive the sap from the 
roots and sap-vessels they imbibe nourishment from the cir- 
cumambient air. While absorption is carried on by the ex- 
tremities of the roots, the leaves seem to concur in the same 
process, chiefly by their under surfaces ; and they transpire 
by their upper surfaces. Some plants imbibe moisture with 
the greatest facility, and transpire very sparingly : thus they 
are fitted for inhabiting sunny rocks and sandy deserts. The 
sap, in its passage through the leaves and bark, becomes quite 
a new fluid, possessing the peculiar flavour and qualities of 
the plant ; and not only yielding woody matter for the increase 
of the vegetable body, but furnishing various secreted sub- 
stances, more or less numerous, and different among them- 
selves. 

We have already observed the great principle of assimila- 
tion in the human body; that mysterious process by which 
the aliment is converted into blood, and flesh, and cartilage, 
and bones. We meet with the same mystery in the vegeta- 
ble kingdom. Plants secrete sugar, gums, and various resi- 
nous substances, from the uniform juices of the earth, or per- 
haps from mere water and air. We observe, however, this 
difference in these two great departments of organized nature ; 
sentient beings feed only, or chiefly, on what is, or has been 
organized matter, either of a vegetable or animal kind ; but 
plants have a power of drawing nourishment from inorganic 
matter, mere earths, salts, or airs (substances incapable of 
serving as food for animals,) though not from these exclusive- 
ly. Thus, vegetables are the great link between inorganic 
matter and animal bodies, preparing the former for becoming 
a constituent part of the latter: and, as vegetables take in 
their food in the shape of sap, it appears that the transition 
from inorganic to organized matter is through the medium of 
fluidity. 

From the same soil different plants secrete each their pe- 
culiar fluids; but how sweet and nutritious herbage should 
grow among the acrid crowfoot and aconite; how the leaf of 
the vine and sorrel should digest a wholesome acid, and that 
of a spurge or manchineel a most virulent poison, is some- 
thing which we can neither understand nor explain. For this, 
chemical principles will not account. In the living labora- 
tories of nature wonders are performed, immeasurably sur- 
passing all the processes of art, and plainly indicating the 



90 VEGETATION. 

existence and operation of an Intelligent Cause, powerful, 
wise, and good. 

Of the peculiar secretions of plants we can form no cer- 
tain opinion from the mere configuration of their parts. If 
these secretions depend on internal organization, the secrets 
of that organization have hitherto eluded investigation. At 
times, under tin sam< external appearance, or at least such 
as r-veii men of science cannot easily distinguish, they tson- 
ceal very different qualities. The sweet and hitter orange- 
trees have the same appearance. Between the sweet and bit- 
ter jatropha there is a great resemblance; although the root 
of the one may be eaten with safety, while that, of the other 
is an active poison. Here, as in every other department of 
nature, we meet with an order of things calculated to awaken 
the attention, exercise the vigilance, and solicit the intellec- 
tual energies of man. The brutes judge by their senses, and 
their senses do not deceive them. Man is endued with higher 
powers, and these must be brought into action; although his 
senses, if unperverted, will not mislead him. 

As every vegetable is capable of bearing seed, so for the 
dispersion of seeds there is a wonderful provision. Some 
are widely sown by birds and other animals ; others, as those 
of the thistle, are fitted with a wing or a sail, and wafted on 
the wind ; and some are shot from their places by the elastic 
spring of a pod, in which they have been ripened. Many 
seeds, when kept dry or deeply buried in the earth, retain the 
power of germination for an unlimited period. If the ground 
in old botanic gardens be digged deeper than ordinary, it not 
unfrequently happens that species which have been long 
lost are recovered, by the seeds which have been buried in 
the earth being brought into a proper situation for germina- 
tion. 

Seeds and plants possess "something analagous to the in- 
stincts of animals, for the preservation of the individual and 
the continuation of the kind. Tn what position soever a seed 
be deposited in the earth, the radicle always pushes down- 
wards in quest of nourishment and to fix the plant into the 
ground; and the plumula, with unvarying steadiness, rises 
upwards. We may attempt to account for this, by saying 
that the radicle is stimulated by moisture, and the plumula by 
air, and that each elongates itself where it is most excited. 
Be this as it may, we see a constitution of things adequate 
to the accomplishment of important ends. A constitution of 
this kind is wise, and must have proceeded from a wise au- 



VEGETATION. 91 

thor ; and if it produce beneficial effects its author must be 
good. 

The roots of trees, it is well known, alter their direction 
in quest of nourishment; and the leaves, which perform such 
an essential part in vegetation, if disturbed, soon adjust them- 
selves, and turn their upper surfaces to the light. If a leaf 
be smeared over, so that its communication with the atmo- 
sphere is cut off, it dies, like an animal when respiration is 
stopped. Some animals are adapted to particular climates 
and circumstances. The same is the case with vegetables ; 
in some of which, as the tillandsia, a very curious provision 
is made to fit them to peculiar circumstances.* Some have 
tubular leaves which receive the rain like a funnel, and some 
are so formed as to prevent evaporation from their cisterns. 

Wisdom is strikingly displayed in the wonderful structure 
of plants, and in the provision made for the preservation of 
the individual and the continuation of the kind. Wisdom and 
goodness likewise appear in the admirable relation between 
the animal and vegetable kingdoms. Vegetables might exist 
without animals, but many animals could not exist without 
vegetables; and of vegetables there is a variety to suit the 
peculiar taste of every creature, and an abundance to supply 
the wants of them all. Those that are the most generally re- 
lished, and consequently the most useful are the most common ; 
and there is reason to conclude that there is no vegetable on 
the earth but what contributes, or may contribute to the sub- 
sistence, or comfort, and accommodation of man, or of the infe- 
rior animals. The earth produces nothing that is useless. Ve- 
getables that are unpalatable to one class of animals are grate- 
ful to the taste of another ; and the more that the leaves of 
perennial grasses are eaten, the more do they creep by the 
roots and send forth offsets. Trees furnish a lodging to va- 
rious tribes of animals; and, besides yielding food, are made 
subservient to many useful purposes by the human race. 



* The tillandsia is a parasitical plant (a kind of mistletoe) 
which grows on the tops of trees in the deserts of America. 
It has its leaves turned at the base into the shape of a pitcher, 
with the extremity expanded: in these, rain is collected. — See 
Ency. Brit. voc. Nat. Hist. p. 657. 



( 92 ) 
CHAPTER VIII. 

THE ATMOSPHERE. 

Having glanced at this earth and its inhabitants, let us now 
for a little turn our attention to the thin, elastic, and transpa- 
rent fluid which constitutes the envelope of our globe.* 

Had the earth been formed by a casual concurrence of 
atoms, or by any undesigning cause, the probability is that it 
would have remained forever a naked mass, like the lonely 
blighted oak on the barren desert. But we see it a beautiful 
globe, adorned by verdure, enriched with plenty, and exhila- 
rated by life and enjoyment, and all these depending on the 
atmosphere with which it is surrounded, as an essential con- 
dition. Atmospheric air consists in bulk of twenty-one parts 
in the hundred of what is at present called oxygen gas ,■ about 
seventy-nine of azotic or nitrogen gas ; and a small, but some- 
what variable, portion of carbonic acid gas. The two last of 
these, namely, the azotic and carbonic acid gases, can support 
neither life nor flame. If an animal be immersed into either 
of them, it almost instantly dies. Oxygen gas alone will sup- 
port the vital functions for some time ; but animals confined 
in it expire long before the whole of it is consumed. The 
proportions of these gases in atmospheric air is the best fitted 
foT supporting both animal and vegetable life. An excess of 
any of them is injurious or fatal. 

But while the proportions of the gases in atmospheric air 
are best adapted to the economy of the animal system, that 
system is so constituted, as to be capable of bearing conside- 
rable variations in the composition of the air, without imme- 
diate injury to the powers of life. Are not design and skilful 
contrivance manifested in the constitution of atmospheric air 1 
The proportions of its constituent parts are nearly the same in 
all places, and at all heights. The azotic is lighter than the 
oxygen gas, and this last has less specific gravity than carbo- 
nic acid gas; yet these two last are found in about the same 

* The most distinguished philosophers of ancient times taught 

thut nature in the formation of her various productions, employ- 
ed only four elementary substances, fire, air, water, and earth. 
Uut the doctrine of the four elements, so famous in former times, 
is completely exploded by the discoveries ofmodern science. If, 
therefore, we speak of atmospheric air, or any of the other sub- 
stances now mentioned, as an element, it is only in a loose and 
popular sense. 



THE ATMOSPHERE. yd 

proportions at the greatest heights to which the genius and in- 
trepidity of man have ascended, as at the level of the sea. 
What astonishing contrivance raises the oxygen and carbonic 
acid gases to every height in the atmosphere ; to the summit 
of Chimboraeo, and to the loftiest region visited by the bal- 
loon ? Is there no design, no skilful contrivance in the won- 
derful adjustment of the affinities and specific gravities of these 
different aeriform fluids 1 Did Priestley, Scheele, and La- 
voisier, act without design, contrivance, and skill, in the pro- 
cesses by which they decomposed atmospheric air, and disco- 
vered its component parts 1 No one thinks so. And shall any 
person be so absurd as to deny design, wisdom, and goodness, 
in the adjustment of those proportions, and in fitting them for 
the benevolent purpose of supporting life. 

There is no physical necessity for the atmosphere. The 
earth might have existed without any such invisible robe flow- 
ing around it. The moon is not provided with an atmosphere ; 
at least not with one so dense as ours. Might not the earth 
have been constituted in the same manner? But, if it had 
been so, it could not have been a place of residence for its 
present inhabitants. Without the atmosphere neither animals 
nor vegetables could have existed : withdraw even its oxyge- 
nous part, constituting only about a fifth of the bulk of the 
whole, and every organized being dies. If any person, then, 
deny design and wisdom in the formation and constitution of 
the atmosphere, we are entitled to call upon him to show the 
physical necessity of an atmosphere, yea of an atmosphere 
constituted as ours is. It is undeniably adapted to the other 
parts of the system, and is an essential part of one beautiful 
whole. What a mighty difference is there between the earth 
and the atmosphere ! The one is a dense, opaque, and incom- 
pressible body ; the other a thin, transparent, invisible and 
highly elastic substance. Yet between the two there is an 
obvious relation. Dissimilar as thej are in themselves, they 
harmoniously combine for the accomplishment of the most 
beneficial purposes. Respiration, the propagation of sounds, 
the conveyance of odours, combustion, the support of vapo.urs, 
the refraction and reflection of the rays of light, all depend on 
the atmosphere. 

The atmosphere cannot form a single living creature; no 
being on earth formed it; yet without it no animal could ex- 
ist. Without the lungs man could not live ; but without the 
atmosphere the lungs were a useless organ. The lungs did 
not apportion the constituent parts of the atmosphere ; yet 
no other proportions are so well suited for supporting animal 



94 the ATMOspin.nr.. 

life. The ear did not form the atmosphere, nor did the at- 
mosphere create tlie ear : they < • \ i - 1 independently on each 
oilier; yet there is an admirable relation between them. 
Without the atmosphere, the ear had been bestowed in vain. 
Decisive experiments prove thai air is the medium by which 
sound is propagated. To it we are indebted for the pleasures 
of speech, and the charms of music. Without it, the organs 
of speech and of hearing would have been useless; but the 
introduction of this element gives interest and utility to the 
tongue and to the ear.* 

The atmosphere conveys smells; and. in this way, is a 
source of pleasure, and a monitor against danger. There is 
an obvious relation between the atmosphere and the wings of 
birds. He who formed the wing of the eagle evidently fitted 
the bird for rising buoyant on the air. Without the air, wings 
would have been a cumbrous appendage ; but, according to 
the present constitution of things, wings are of great import- 
ance to the bird, and are suited to all its habits. Even the 
ostrich, though it does not fly, is impelled in its rapid career 
by the action of its wings. 

Air is necessary to lire. Whatever theory of combustion 
we adopt, we must admit the atmosphere is requisite to the 
process. The air supports vapour, which is exhaled from the 
earth and from the ocean by the heat of the sun. Evaporation 
is a great process of nature, which is continually going on, 
and is essential to the system. The quantity of water raised 
into the air in this manner, is much greater than, at first sight, 
we would imagine. Dr. Watson, by inverting a glass vessel 
on the ground in the time of a considerable drought, found 
that even then, about 1G00 gallons of water were evaporated 
from an acre in 24 hours. On repeating the experiment, after 
a thunder-shower, he found that an acre yielded about 1900 
gallons in 12 hours. 

This process is carried on not only from the ground, but also 
from the leaves of trees and plants, as well as from the sur- 
face of rivers and lakes, and the ocean. A great part of the 
mojsture exhaled during the day descends in dew during the 



* The air by the conveyance of sounds furnishes us with the 
means of measuring distances. In any terrestrial distance, the 
passage of light may be considered as instantaneous; but sound 
travels at the rate of about 1142 feet in a second. Hence we 
may measure the distance of the cloud, from which the lightning 
and the peal of thunder proceed. 



THE ATMOSPHERE. 95 

night, and is absorbed by the vegetables which had before 
given it out. In this way the earth is not so soon desiccated, 
even for a little way below the surface, as we might be aptto 
imagine from the quantity of water raised by evaporation. If 
all the moisture, exhaled during the time of a long drought, 
left the earth, not to return to it for the space of several weeks 
or months, all plants which do not strike their roots very 
deeply into the ground must of necessity be destroyed. But 
nothing of this kind takes place, excepting with the most ten- 
der grass, when on elevated situations, and much exposed to 
the rays of the sun. 

The water that is carried into the air by evaporation, re- 
turns again to the earth in dew and fogs, rain, hail, or snow, 
according to the climate and the season of the year. It does 
not descend in impetuous spouts, nor yet in large sheets. 
Had it done so, instead of being the messenger of plenty and 
of joy, it would have been the author of desolation and mourn- 
ing, mangling the vegetable kingdom, overthrowing the 
habitations of man, and destroying himself. Can we con- 
template the invisible drops of dew, the drizzling shower, 
reviving and refreshing the thirsty plants, and the copious 
rain moistening the earth, and not be filled with grateful ad- 
miration of the wisdom and goodness manifested in that con- 
stitution of things by which dews and rains descend as from 
a colander? The phenomena of rain we are unable fully to 
explain : but we see a beneficial end accomplished ; and al- 
though we have not yet discovered all the steps of the pro- 
cess, or the precise operation of the different agents employ- 
ed, we have sufficient reason to believe that the constitution 
of this meteor was framed by a wise and beneficent First 
Cause. 

The atmosphere also serves to refract the light of the sun, 
and to reflect it in all directions. To the refraction of the 
rays of light by the atmosphere, we are indebted for the 
morning and evening twilight. Without this refraction, thick 
darkness would prevail in the morning till the sun were above 
the horizon, and, in the evening, would immediately follow 
the disappearance of his orb. At the equator the twilight is 
short, because thexe the earth moves with great rapidity in 
its diurnal rotation, and consequently its rotundity soon in- 
tervenes. The refraction of light is very serviceable to those 
who live in polar regions. By means of it their long night 
is abridged, and they see the returning light sooner than 
otherwise they could have done. The sun was visible to some 
Dutch navigators, who wintered in Nova Zembla in 1682, 



96 THE ATMOSPHERE. 

sixteen days sooner than he could have been seen if there 
had been no atmosphere to refract the rays of light. 

If the refractive power of the atmosphere be beneficial to 
the inhabitants of the earth, its reflection of light is much 
more so. Without atmospheric reflection we would see no 
light, but when our eye was turned to the sun. Solid bodies, 
indeed, thai reflected the rays, would glitter: they would 
glitter, however, in the midst of darkness. But from the re- 
iflection of the solar rays, in all directions, by means of the 
air, the hemisphere is as completely illuminated, as if the 
sun were commensurate with it. and were fitted tip over our 
globe like a semispherical cap. Here, in the simplicity of 
the means, we may recognize the wisdom of the Agent. Every 
aeriform fluid would not answer all the purposes of the atmo- 
sphere. Some of them are too rare for supporting vapour ; 
most of them are unfit for the purposes of respiration. But 
the atmosphere is admirably adapted to the globe which it 
surrounds : it serves many different purposes, and is essential 
to a vast system of life and enjoyment. 

It is a well known fact that atmospheric air is deteriorated, 
and rendered unfit for the support of life, by combustion, the 
germination of seeds, the vegetation of plants, and the respi- 
ration of animals. Were this deterioration to go on continu- 
ally increasing, without counteraction or compensation, the 
atmosphere would daily become more unfit for the purposes 
of respiration, till, at length, the whole mass of air would be- 
come contaminated, and life be extinguished. But it exists 
at this moment in as pure a state as it ever did. It is as fit 
as ever for supporting both animal and vegetable life. Hence 
it is evident that a great restorative process is continually 
going on, by means of which the purity of the general body 
of the atmosphere is preserved. This process, which is an 
exact counterpoise to the causes of contamination, the pre- 
sent state of our knowledge does not enable us fully to ex- 
plain. 

Dr. Priestley observed that, in vegetation, leaves have the 
property of absorbing carbonic acid gas from the atmosphere; 
and hence he concluded thai vegetation was a great restorer 
of the purity of the air contaminated by respiration. This 
doctrine has been controverted ; but, after much investigation, 
it appears, to a certain extent at least, to be true. In germi- 
nation, indeed, seeds absorb oxygen, and give out carbonic 
acid. A similar process goes on in vegetation when plants 
are in the shade, or in the dark; but when they are exposed 
to the action of the solar beam the process is different. Then, 



THE ATMOSPHERE. 97 

by the joint agency of the plant and of light, the carbonic 
acid is decomposed and oxygen gas developed. In the shade, 
or in the dark, plants convert oxygen into carbonic acid ; and, 
when confined in a given quantity of air, this conversion goes 
on till all the oxygen disappears. But under the action of 
the solar rays, in conjunction with the leaves of the plant, 
carbonic acid is decomposed, and oxygen gas is formed. This 
conversion and re-conversion of gases go on simultaneously: 
in what proportion has not yet been determined. 

Thus, if plants deteriorate atmospheric air, they likewise 
contribute to its restoration to purity ; but how far this con- 
tribution extends, on the great scale of nature, cannot be 
easily ascertained. By experiment and careful observation 
we may discover the processes of nature ; but from the minute 
scale on which our experiments are performed, in many cases, 
it is not easy, from their results, to make any exact calcu- 
lations respecting the processes in the vast system of the 
world. In the case under consideration, I know of no expe- 
riments which will enable us to make even an approximation 
to the degree in which vegetation purifies the atmosphere. 
In all probability, its influence in restoring is at least as great 
as in contaminating the air; perhaps much greater. We may 
still say, that, in this respect, there is a continual circulation 
of benefit between the animal and vegetable kingdoms.* 

Water lends its aid in purifying contaminated air. It ab- 
sorbs carbonic acid when brought into contact with it, and the 
rapidity of the absorption is much increased by agitation. It 
seems likewise to give out oxygen gas ; and to act in both 
of these ways, more or less powerfully, according to different 
circumstances. Now, water and air are brought into a state 
of contact by the exhalation of vapour, the descent of dew 
and rain, and the action of winds. The very processes, which 
are necessary in order to vegetation and life, contain in them 
the principles by which the purity of the atmosphere is pre- 
served. Although we were wholly unable to discover any 
part of the process by which contaminated air is restored to 
purity, still the argument from the fact would remain unan- 



* It has been said, that the oxygen produced by plants arises 
solely from the decomposition of the carbonic acid, and that this 
production of oxygen depends altogether on the chemical effect 
of light on the leaf, and is unconnected with the functions of 
vegetation. Be this as it may, it is certain that the conversion 
of gases accompanies the process of vegetation. 
9 



LIGHT. 

swerahle. That ;i great process of restoration is continually 
the air is preserved in a state of purity, 
cannot be denied. Our igm means merely proves 

the narrowness of our capacity, or the imperfection of our 
science. 

Wind is air in motion, or a current of air, and is occasion- 
ed chiefly by the disturbance of the equilibrium of the at- 
mosphere, by the unequal distribution of heat. The winds 
ime important purposes in nature, and are great agents 
in carrying on the economy of thai system of which they 
form a part. Confined and motionless air soon becomes un- 
favourable to respiration ; but the winds agitate the atmo- 
sphere and maintain its salubrity, purifying what has been 
contaminated, and removing noxious emanations. They trans- 
fer from place to place the clouds destined to scatter over the 
face of the earth those rains which moisten and fertilize it. 
They are the vehicles of many seeds, which, being provided 
with wings or down, arc wafted to all parts in autumn, and 
keep up a constant circulation of vegetable riches b 
different soils. They modify the temperature of the air, 
bringing the beat of the equator towards the poles, and carry- 
ing the polar cold towards the torrid zone. They also main- 
tain an intercommunity of temperature between the sea and 
land. In tropical climates the sea-breeze bears in its bosom a 
refreshing coolness, and fans the traveller panting under a ver- 
tical sun; the wind blowing over the ocean serves to mitigate 
the cold of high latitudes. Like many other parts of nature, 
the winds solicit the ingenuity, and aid the industry of man. 
Without them navigation must have been almost unknown, 
and the commerce of distant nations altogether impracticable. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Light is a most astonishing phenomenon, and between it 
and the eye there is an obvious relation. Without light the 
eye had been an useless organ; and without the eye light 
had been to sentient beings, in some respccts.au unprofitable 
emanation. But, by the genial operation of light, the eye 
beholds creation in all its magnificence, beauty, and variety. 
Light did not create the eye, for it was formed in darkness; 
nor did the eye give existence to light; yet there is such an 



LIGHT. 99 

adaptation of the one to the other, as compels us, by the very 
constitution of our nature, to believe thai Ll is the result of 
design. And the designing cause must be wise and good, 
for the means are happily fitted to the end, and the end is 
beneficial. The air is the' vehicle ol and by means of 

the ear enables us to carry on an intercourse of thought with 
our fellow men; but bow greatly is this intercourse extended, 
diversified, and improved by light and the eye ! 

It may here be assumed as a fact, that light is emitted 
from the luminous hotly, and moves in straight lines. Its 
prodigious velocity cannot fail to engage our attention. It 
travels about twelve millions of miles in a minute. The dis- 
covery of this fact is a noble proof of the exalted powers of 
the human mind ; and yet it depends on circumstances so in- 
telligible that every person may understand the matter. The 
eclipses of Jupiter's moons can be exactly calculated ; and 
Roemer, a Danish astronomer, observed that these eclipses 
are seen sixteen minutes sooner when the earth is in that part 
of its orbit which is nearest Jupiter, than when it is farthest 
from him. This shows that light takes sixteen minutes to 
travel through a space equal to the diameter of the earth's 
orbit, and consequently eight minutes to pass from the sun to 
the earth; a distance which, with Dr. Maskelyne, we may 
estimate at ninety-five millions of miles. This wonderful fact 
was afterwards confirmed by Bradley's curious discovery of 
the aberration of the fixed stars. 

Even the initial velocity of a cannon-ball seldom reaches 
2000 feet in a second ; but in the same time light moves 
about 200,000 miles, consequently with upwards of 500,000 
times the greatest initial velocity of a cannon-ball. Unless 
the particles of light were inconceivably minute they would 
dash in pieces everything that came in their way. But such 
is their extreme exilit}^ that, notwithstanding their amazing 
velocity, they strike even the delicate pupil of the eye with- 
out injuring it. The person who can reflect on this without 
a strong conviction and a grateful impression of an Intelli- 
gent Cause, and without admiration of ths wisdom and good- 
ness of that Cause, must have a mind inaccessible to moral 
evidence, and destitute of the noblest feelings of humanity. 
The beneficial effects of light are too extensive to be over- 
looked, and too obvious to be denied. They force them- 
selves on the notice of the careless, and command the assent 
of the sceptic. 

The particles of light seem strongly to repel each other, 
und are never found cohering together so as to form masses 



100 LIGHT. 

of any sensible magnitude. Thorp arc several differently 
coloured rays in the solar beam, which can be separated by 
the prism, and the colour of bodies depends on their affinity 
for particular rays, and their want of affinity for others. 
Thus to light arc we indebted not only for seeing nature 
around us, but for all that charming variety of colours, all 
those delicate tints, which diversify and adorn the vegetable 
kingdom. The upper surface of leaves is of the most pleas- 
i. and the exquisite tints of flowers are inimitably 
beautiful. The most skilful painter cannot so mingle and 
temper bis colours as to rival their native hues. 

Light is the i I agreeable variety which we meet 

with in the taste and odour of plants, and is the main source 
of their combustibility. It is not in the vegetable kingdom 
only that the influence of light is felt : it acts also on animals, 
and considerably affects their colour. The bellies of fish, 
being always turned from the light, are white; but those 
parts of their bodies which are exposed to it exhibit various 
colours. Tropical birds are more brightly coloured than 
those of higher latitudes ; and the parts of the feathers have 
more or less variety of colour, as they are more or less ex- 
posed to the action of light. The upper part of the feathers 
of the wings have more brilliancy than those of the breast. 
A similar observation applies to the hairs of quadrupeds ; and 
light and heat seem to be powerful agents in producing that 
variety of colour which is observable in the human race. 

Whether light and caloric, or the matter of heat, be the 
same substance under different modifications or combinations, 
I shall not inquire. Suffice it to say, that they are found to- 
gether in the solar beam. Heat is the cause of fluidity, and 
is essential to the existence of our earth in its present form. 
The great law of attraction pervades the universe, so far as 
our observation extends; and had it alone acted, all must 
have been one solid mass. In order to constitute a system 
such as ours, it was necessary to introduce a principle of 
repulsion, which, in a propi r di gri e, should counteract the 
law of attraction. This principle of repulsion we find in 
heat; by the action of which solids are converted into fluids, 
and fluids into vapour. Here we may remark the wisdom 
displayed in so nicely balancing the principles of attraction 
and repulsion against each other. Had there been any con- 
siderable difference in either of these from what now obtains, 
tin- world would nol have existed in its present form, nor yield- 
ed subsistence to its present inhabitants. Had the power of 
attraction and cohesion been much greater, and the degree 



ASTRONOMY. 101 

of heat the same as at present, we should have heen in want 
of fluidity : had the quantity of heat been much greater, and 
attraction, as well as the pressure of the atmosphere, the 
same as at present, all our fluids would have been converted 
into vapour. But these powers are exactly adjusted to one 
another and to the rest of the system. 

Heat is necessary both to vegetable and animal life ; and 
it appears a decided evidence of the wisdom and goodness of 
the Supreme Being, that the living functions, both of plants 
and animals, disengage the portion of heat necessary for their 
well-being: this they seem to accomplish by converting oxy- 
gen into carbonic acid gas, in which process a quantity of 
heat is evolved. 



CHAPTER X. 



ASTRONOMV, 



Having taken a cursory view of the terraqueous globe with 
its productions and inhabitants, of the transparent and elastic 
fluid with which it is invested, and of light and heat which 
beautify and enrich it, let us now for a little quit the earth, 
and contemplate the splendid orbs that bespangle the vault 
of heaven. At an early period, the Chaldean shepherd, 
watching his flocks, under an unclouded sky, on the exten- 
sive plains washed by the Euphrates and the Tigris, atten- 
tively observed the stars in their silent revolutions. He 
marked the brilliancy of Sirius, and the majesty of Orion. 
With a vigilant eye, he followed the Twins and Arcturus in 
their course : and learned the unvarying relative position of 
these twinkling ornaments of the sky. But the planetary 
motions perplexed him by their apparent intricacy and irre- 
gularity, and defied his sagacity to unravel their seeming 
confusion. 

The Phenician mariner turned his eye to those stars which 
appear to describe very small circles, or with stately majesty 
to remain motionless in the firmament. Some of the stars of 
the Dragon, or of the Great Bear, it is likely, were his guides 
in creeping timidly along the shores of the Mediterranean, or 
of the Arabian Gulf. The star Alruccabah, in the tail of the 
Little Bear, which, by the precession of the equinoxes, is 
now near the immovable point of the heavens, probably did 
9* 



102 ASTRONOMY. 

not attract much of his attention.* These Chaldean shep- 
herds and Phenician navigators, although they could impress, 
in some measure, the stars into their service, had but a very 
limited and partial knowledge of astronomy. There is a vast 
distance between their rude observations and the noble disco- 
veries of Newton and La Place. For, with the exception of 
the comets, the solar system is now well understood; and 
the motions of all the great bodies connected with it are 
ascertained with the utmost precision, and can be explained 
by the laws or facts of projection and gravitation. 

Astronomy bears a strong testimony to the existence of 
God, and furnishes clear proofs of his mighty power, con- 
summate wisdom, and great goodness. " My opinion of as- 
tronomy has always been," says Dr. Paley, "that it is not 
the best medium through which to prove the agency of an 
intelligent Creator." The opinion is not without some foun- 
dation. But I must acknowledge that no part of Dr. Pa- 
ley's masterly work on Natural, Theology made a deeper im- 
pression on my mind than the chapter on astronomy. We 
are not, indeed, acquainted with the inhabitants of the plane- 
tary bodies, and consequently cannot trace minute contri- 
vance and mechanical adaptation in their organization, or in 
the provision that is made for their subsistence, accommoda- 
tion, and comfort. We can reason only on the forms, arrange- 
ments, and motions of the planets. But, even within this 
range we meet with decisive proofs of design, power, wisdom, 
and goodness. 

I. The forms of the heavenly bodies are all spheroidal, 
whatever be the diameter of the sphere. This holds from the 
sun, the largest, to Pallas, the least, perhaps, of the bodies 
in our system. The spheroidal figure is best fitted for the 
motion of the planets, whether in their orbits or on their axes. 
It is best adapted for the equal diffusion of light; and, judg- 
ing from the inhabitants of our earth, it is also most commo- 
dious for furnishing a residence to living- creatures. 

Now, was there any physical necessity for the spheroidal 
figure? I may perhaps be told that it results from the mo- 
tions. Passing over, at present, the difficulty of accounting 
for the motions without an Intelligent Cause, I should like to 
know what is the evidence that the planets were not spheres 
at their first movement, as well as at present. In my appre- 
hension, I have as good a right to allege that the sphericity 



* Yoyez Bailly, Histoire de l'Astronomie Ancicnne. 



ASTRONOMY. 103 

was prior to the motion, as another has to say that the motion 
generated the sphericity. Supposing, however, that the pla- 
nets were not spheres originally, we may inquire how they 
moved before they assumed the spheroidal form. What was 
their original figure? Supposing them to have been cubes, 
parallelograms, or very irregular figures, how did they revolve 
till they acquired their present shape? Must not the axis of 
rotation have been perpetually shifting? And would not this 
shifting have prevented them from acquiring their present 
figure? Besides, if our earth, for instance, was as dense at 
first as it is now, its rotation on its axis would have had very 
little influence on its figure. The solid parts of the earth do 
not appear to be affected by its rotation. 

But we may be told, perhaps, that the matter of the pla- 
nets was struck off from the body of the sun in a state of fu- 
sion, and thus assumed the globular form by rotation. This, 
however, is a purely hypothetical assumption countenanced by 
no one known fact in nature. We do not know that the sun 
himself is an ignited body. We do not know that any great 
masses, in a state of ignition and fusion, exist in the universe. 
We have no evidence that our earth, or any other planet, is 
gradually cooling. To assume principles, which receive no 
countenance from the existing phenomena of nature, may do 
with the dreaming theorist who surrenders himself to the 
guidance of a loose imagination; but such a practice can 
never be admitted into the school of sound philosophy. We 
may add that it is unreasonable to expect that every wild hy- 
pothesis devised by a fertile fancy should be seriously refuted. 
In order to entitle a theory to attention, it must be counte- 
nanced by known facts. Without this it is, at best, but an 
amusing fiction. 

According to La Place, a body with the same time of ro- 
tation, may put on two very different forms, which will pre- 
serve their equilibrium : the one of them is very near a sphere ; 
the other, very far from it. In the case of our earth, supposing 
it to have been originally a homogeneous body, the parts of 
which would all freely yield to the centrifugal force, one of 
the forms would have the ratio of the polar to the equatorial 
diameter, as 229 to 230, which is near the ratio that actually 
obtains ; and the other as 1 to 680.* In all the planets, we 



* See Vince's Confutation of Atheism, p. 66. The fig-ure of 
the earth is not yet precisely ascertained. It appears certain 
that the equatorial diameter somewhat exceeds the polar axis. 



104 ASTRONOMY. 

find that form which is nearest to the sphere, and which in 
point of utility and convenience is unquestionably the more 
advantageous of the two ; for the other form is nearly a flat 
circular body, having a convex edge. If it be alleged that 
roidal form results from gravitation, we may ask such 
g as the following. Will gravitation account for all 
! Is gravitation a necessary or a contingent 
fact I Is ii essential to matter? That it is essential to mat- 
ter cannot be proved. And if it be not essential to matter, 
ratio in which it is observed to act be not essential 
to matter, then every advantage resulting from gravitation, 
and from the particular law which it observes, may be rea- 
sonably attributed to design. 

There is one phenomenon in the planetary figures, for which 
neither rotation, nor gravitation, nor both of them, will in any 
decree account; I refer to the ring or rings of Saturn. Al- 
though rotation and gravitation may preserve these rings in 
their°placesi they will not account for their formation. Ga- 
lileo was the first who observed something uncommon in the 
shape of Saturn ; and the ring was more fully discovered by ' 
Huygens about forty years afterwards. It is now found that 
this planet is encompassed with two thin fiat concentric 
rings, lying edgewise, towards the planet, and at some dis- 
tance front it. °The plane of these rings passes through Sa- 
turn's equator. The rings revolve in their own plane, in 
about ten hours and a half; and, not being of a regular figure, 
their centre of gravity is at a small distance from the centre 
of Saturn. The centre of gravity being carried about Saturn 
by the rotation of the rings, gives them a centrifugal force, 
which is combined with their gravitation to the planet ; and 
they are retained by these two forces, in the same manner as 
a planet is retained in its orbit. 

The formation of these rings must have been either instan- 
taneous or gradual. But how will gravitation, or even gra- 
vitation and rotation combined, account for their formation in 
either of these ways. Gravitation could never have produced 
bodies of such a figure. It could not form them instanta- 
neously: there is no known property of gravity capable of 
producing such an effect. Neither could it do so gradually ; 



The difference between the polar and equatorial diameters 
seems to lie between 300 to 301, and 310 to 341. The French 
astronomers have made _jL Moxtucla, vol. iv. p. 170. 

Others, 3 ] --. PiATFAiB, Out. vol. ii. p. 302. 



ASTRONOMY. 105 

for what was to support them, in an unfinished state, during 
a gradual formation'? I see no way of accounting for the 
figure of those rings, by matter, gravitation, and motion. 
And if their figure cannot in this way be accounted for, the 
question becomes still more complicated and perplexing, 
when we attend to their motion. To produce the rotation, 
the force applied must act in the plane of the rings; but a 
single force acting thus would have disturbed their position, 
and carried them "up to the planet. There must have been 
impressed equal and opposite forces, at equal distances on 
each side of the centre, in order to give them rotation without 
altering their position. The figure of the rings is not regular : 
La Place has shown that if it had been regular, the rings 
could not have preserved their position, but must have been 
disturbed by the slightest force, such as the attraction of a 
comet or satellite, and fallen upon the planet; and that it is 
owing to those irregularities that they are supported in their 
proper situations. In the other bodies of the system, regu- 
larity of figure tends to insure uniformity of motion, and 
there regularity prevails. But here irregularity is found to 
exist, and it was needful in order to permanency. The rings 
are of a form which could not have arisen from the gravita- 
tion of their parts. They are concentric, placed exactly in 
the same plane, and in the plane of Saturn's equator. Their 
progressive velocity is exactly adjusted to the velocity of Sa- 
turn in his orbit, both in respect of quantity and direction: 
and they have a certain degree of inequality in their figures, 
which, with a corresponding period of revolution about the 
planet, is the means of securing them in their position. 
Here, then, we see such a complication of adjustments, as 
must irresistibly impress us with the belief of an Intelligent 
and Wise Cause. 

II. Design appears in the arrangement of the heavenly bo- 
dies. 

The sun is the central body of our system. Of the phy- 
sical constitution of that luminary we cannot speak with cer- 
tainty. But, whether we consider it as an ignited hody, or 
as an opaque orb surrounded, at a distance from its surface, 
with clouds emitting luminous and calorific rays, the fact is 
certain, that it is the great fountain of light and heat to the 
system. Design, wisdom, and goodness, are obvious, in this 
single fact. Had the universe been the result of any unde- 
signing cause, what probability is there that there would 
have been any luminous body in the system 1 At present, 
besides comets, we know of eleven primary and eighteen se- 



106 ASTRONOMY. 

condary planets. These are all opaque orbs. How, then, 
but by the admission of an Intelligent Creator, shall we ac- 
count for one, and only one, luminous body in our group 
of worlds. But supposing one luminous body to have some- 
how appeared among the opaque planets, how shall we ac- 
count for its being a large body, yea larger than any, or all 
of the rest? What is there in light and caloric to attach 
them to the largest body exclusively, or to make the body to 
which tb. y arc attached assume a central position? It' gra- 
vitation be alleged as the cause, we answer that it will not 
account for the phenomena. How, on this supposition, are 
light and heat emitted? 

If there had been no sun, it is obvious that the present or- 
der of things eould not have existed. Without light and 
heat there could be neither vegetable nor animal life. The 
light and heat of the sun cannot create a single seed, but by 
means of one previously existing: they cannot form any ani- 
mal without the intervention of a seminal principle from a 
parent animal. The sun, then, has not created anything 
lure; and nothing here created the sun: yet between the sun 
and the earth there is an obvious relation. For, if j'ou 
remove the sun, you at the same time extinguish vegetable 
and animal life on the earth. Have not wisdom and good- 
ness, then, provided this essential condition of animal and 
vegetable existence 1 

If the luminous body had been small compared with the 
other orbs in the system, like Juno or Pallas, or even like 
our earth ; if it had not been a central, but a revolving body 
round the centre, then light and heat could not have been in 
the same quantity, nor could they have been so equably dis- 
tributed as they presently are. But the sun is a vast globe, 
and stationary, or nearly so, in the centre, diffusing light and 
heat, and life and joy, over all his attendant worlds. It is 
needless to enter into any calculation of the probabilities, 
that in a system of thirty bodies (leaving the comets out of 
the question) grouped together by the law of gravitation, one, 
and one only, should be luminous, and that iliai one should 
be largest, and in the centre. To me it appears that, on the 
very face of tin- thing, there is a plain evidence of design; 
and not of design only, but of wisdom and goodness also. 

The very large bodies, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus, are 
placed at a great distance from the centre. Had they been 
nexl the sun, their joint attractions would have greatly 
disturbed the less and more distant planets in their revolu- 
tions. I3ut. travelling in orbits at such an immense distance 



ASTRONOMY. 107 

from the centre, they attract the sun and the inferior planets 
almost equally ; which, in point of perturbation, is nearly 
the same as if they attracted neither. This results from the 
law which gravitation observes, decreasing in the inverse 
ratio of the squares of the distances. 

The distances at which the planets arc placed from each 
other are an indication of wisdom. Had not the bulk and 
distance of the circumvolving bodies been wisely arranged, 
the attraction of one would have drawn another from its orbit. 
They would have met together in terrible and destructive 
collision : confusion and ruin would have ensued. But so 
wisely are the bulks, velocities, and distances of the pla- 
netary orbs adjusted to the established law of gravitation, 
that, though they act on each other, they do not act so pow- 
erfully as to derange the system. The perturbations are par- 
tial, limited, and periodical. A great compensating princi- 
ple pervades the universe, and keeps the disturbing- powers 
within harmless limits. The vast extent of the system gives 
room for the bodies to move, without endangering its perma- 
nency by their mutual attractions : it likewise prevents those 
great tides which would have happened, if the large planets 
had moved near each other. 

In all the planets, so far as we know, the axis of rotation 
forms a greater or less angle with the plane of the orbit. For 
this there is no physical necessity. But in our earth, where 
we have the best opportunity of observing and judging, it is 
productive of beneficial effects. To it we owe the variety of 
seasons. Had the axis of rotation been parallel to the plane 
of the orbit, each hemisphere, in its turn, would have been 
long in darkness. If the axis had been perpendicular to the 
plane of the orbit, light would, indeed, have been diffused 
from pole to pole; but the equatorial regions would have 
been scorched with perpetual and unvarying heat, whilst in 
the higher latitudes the influence of the sun would have been 
too faintly felt to bring vegetation to maturity. But, by the 
inclination of the axis, light and heat are more beneficially 
diffused over the globe. 

Under the head of arrangement, we may take notice of the 
provision of moons. 

Mercury and Venus, moving in orbits at no great distance 
from the fountain of light, are provided with none of those 
attendants. One accompanies our earth ; and, as its orbit 
forms but a small angle with the ecliptic, it is ver}^ beneficial 
to its primary. The time of the moon's revolution round the 
earth is j ust equal to the time of her rotation about her own axis. 



108 ASTRONOMY. 

The same holds of all the satellites of Jupiter; and of one, at 
least, of Saturn. From the uniformity which prevails in the 
other parts of the system, it is likely that the same is the ease 
with all the secondaries, although it has not yet been ascer- 
tained by observation. In this way, the secondary always 
keeps the same face towards the primary. Now, in this con- 
stitution of things, we may perceive plain indications of de- 
siini, wisdom, and goodness. When we consider the num- 
ber of nice adjustments that are necessary in 
the secondary always keep the - wards the pri- 

mary, and attend to the number of bodies in which tl 
stitution obtains, it is impossible to attribute it to anything 
but design. The end is good ; for had the constitution of 
those bodies been different, the primary would have occa- 
sioned injurious or destructive tides on the secondary; but 
by keeping the same face of the moon always towards the 
earth this evil is avoided. Whatever may be the elevation 
of the waters upon the moon, it always remains the same, or 
nearly so. 

Mars has no satellite. The four newly discovered planets, 
Juno, Vesta, Ceres, and Pallas, are very small bodies, and 
unable to carry moons along with them. But Jupiter, a vast 
globe, moving in an orbit about 490 millions of miles distant 
from the sun, is provided with four satellites, placed at dif- 
ferent distances from his centre, and performing their revolu- 
tions in different periods. Saturn, revolving in an orbit 
twice as distant from the sun as that of Jupiter, besides the 
apparatus of his rings, has no less than seven moons attend- 
ing him. Uranus, about 1800 millions of miles distant from 
the sun, is known to have at least six moons. 

Light decreases as the squares of the distances increase, 
consequently in those distant regions the solar rays must be 
very sparse. But the remote planets are amply provided 
with satellites t" n fleet the light; and, to me, the provision 
of moons in the system appears to afford no slight evidence 
of design. The most distant planets are capable, by their 
mass, of supporting moons, and they are provided with them. 
Perhaps, in the other plam satellites serve other 

beneficial purposes besides that of illumination, as the moon 
does to our earth. Distant as they are, they are ui'advantage 
even to us : the moons of Jupiter assist us in determining the 
longitude. 

111. The motions of the planets afford plain proofs of de- 
sign, whether we attend to their revolutions in their orbits, 
or to their rotation on their axes. 



ASTRONOMY. 109 

The adjustment of the centripetal and centrifugal forces, 
so as exactly to balance each other, is a wonderful fact in 
nature. The planets all move in ellipses, not greatly remov- 
ed from circles, having the sun in one of the foci. The 
general law or fact, in nature, so far as we can observe, is 
that all bodies attract each other in the direct ratio of their 
masses, and in the inverse ratio of the squares of the dis- 
tances. It has, indeed, been asserted that this is a necessary 
fact. But we know too little of gravitation to authorize us to 
make any such assertion. We do not know that gravitation 
is essential to matter. We neither know what it is, nor how 
it acts; and, for anything we know, it might have followed 
one ratio of action just as well as another. Therefore we 
have at least as good a right to attribute the established ratio 
to choice, as others have to attribute it to necessity.* 

But, without dwelling on this point, how shall we account 
for the velocity with which each planet moves, being so pro- 
portioned to the quantity of matter in the planet, and to its 
distance from the sun, as to retain it exactly in its orbit. 
Take any planet, and make an alteration in any of those con- 
ditions, and you derange or destroy the system. If you 
greatly increase the matter of any planet, leaving its dis- 
tance and velocity the same as at present, it will fall into the 
sun. If you considerably increase the velocity, leaving the 
planet with the same, or less quantity of matter, and at the 
same distance from the central body, it will no longer move 
in an orbit nearly circular, but will describe a very eccentric 
ellipse, or fly off into the immensity of space. Here, then, 
design, nay consummate wisdom, is displayed, in so finely 
balancing the centripetal and centrifugal forces, that the pla- 
nets should move in orbits nearly circular. In order to the 
accomplishment of this, both the direction and the velocity 
of the projection lay within extremely narrow limits. Al- 
though the direction in which the body was projected had 
been right, yet a small difference in the velocity would have 
made a great change in the orbit; and supposing the velocity 
to have been just what it is at present, if the projection had 
not been in one particular line, the effect would not have an- 
swered. No direction would have cured a wrong velocity, 
and no velocity would have cured a wrong direction. Both 
must be right, and the right point lay within extremely nar-' 



* See Professor Robison in Supplement to 3d edition of En- 
cyclopaedia Britannica, voc. Astronomy, p. 53. 
10 



110 ASTRONOMY. 

row limits. Now, that two such independent circumstances 
should be found so exactly united, in so many different bo- 
dies, is evidently the result of contrivance and wisdom. 

There is a fixed relation between the periodic times of the 
primary planets, and their mean distances from 1 lie centre* 
I lares of the periodic times arc to each other as the 

cubes of the mean distances. That this should obtain in all 
the planets cannot be accounted for but by resolving it into 
and the fact is the more worthy of attention, when 
we consider that one of the conditions requisite to tl 
bility of the system is, that the planets should perform their 
revolutions in different periods. 

The framers of theories have amused themselves and their 
readers with dreams of comets striking off fragments from the 
sun. and of these fragments becoming planets. But, accord- 
ing to the great law of gravitation, a revolving body returns 
into its own path; and consequently, if the planets had been 
struck off from the body of the sun. they must in every re- 
volution have returned to the body of the sun again. It is of 
no avail to allege, that the blow which struck off the frag- 
ments from the sun, removed the sun himself from his place ; 
for, even in this ease, as the supposed stroke acted on the 
fragment as well as on the sun. so the fragment must, in 
every revolution, return to the surface of the bodv from which 
it was broken off. As a revolving bodv, according to the law 
of gravitation, must return to the place from which it was 
projected, it follows that the planets must either have been 
formed in their orbits or carried to them, and received the 
projectile impulse there. They must all have begun their mo- 
tions in their orbits. 

We may here remark, that it has been said, that the four 
newly discovered planets are fragments of a large bodv that 
formerly revolved in an orbit between those of Jupiter and 
Mars, but which, by some unknown cause, perhaps by a 
Bhock of electricity, had been broken in pieces; and it has 
been supposed thai the meteoric stones, which sometimes 
fall on the earth, are the splinters of that large orb which gave 
birth to the newly discovered plam is. On this fanciful theory, 
I shall just observe, that if a large planet has been broken, it 
must have been many ages ago ; for the history of astronomy 
does not inform us of any planet that has disappeared. .Me- 
teoric stones, however, have lately fallen on the earth. Are 
we not, then, left to suppose that the larger fragments, by 
some good fortune, have been honoured with a place among 
the planets, whilst the unlucky little splinters have been 



ASTRONOMY. Ill 

wandering up and down for ages, without finding a resting 
place, till at length chance conducted them to this earth for 
repose ] 

Suppose a large planet to have been shivered, no matter 
how, we may inquire in what manner the large fragments 
acquired their spheroidal form] How did they find their way 
to their respective orbits,? Whence did they receive their 
projectile force, so exactly in the direction and with the velo- 
city requisite to ensure their continuance and steady motions 
in their orbits, amidst so many soliciting and disturbing 
powers ] How came they to move so near each other, and 
yet to remain so distinct] Till these and similar questions 
be satisfactorily answered, it will be as philosophical to be- 
lieve that the four newly discovered planets were formed in 
their orbits, and projected by a powerful and wise Intelligence, 
as to embrace the theory now mentioned concerning their 
origin. 

After the planets are projected in a direction and with a 
velocity so exactly proportioned to the quantity of matter in 
each, and to its distance from the sun, as that they shall nearly 
describe circles, still there is no physical necessity for their 
revolving on their own axes. But that most of them do re- 
volve on their own axes we certainly know. That this should 
happen in so many different bodies, must be the result of de- 
sign. Those persons who are best acquainted with the doc- 
trine ofprobabilities, will not, I apprehend, ascribe it to chance. 
By this constitution of things a beneficial purpose is served, 
in our world at least, and w r e have not the means of judging 
so fully of any other. To it we owe the agreeable vicissi- 
tude of day and night, a vicissitude accommodated to our na- 
ture, as it gives us the opportunity of refreshing ourselves 
with sleep by night, to prepare for the toils and enjoyments 
of returning day. Here design is obvious ; and benevo- 
lence characterizes the designing mind, for the end is be- 
neficial. Wisdom, also, plainly appears in the contrivance. 

All the twenty-nine primaries and secondaries, belonging 
to our system (if the moons of Uranus, the planes of which 
are nearly at right angles to the orbit of their primary, be not 
considered an exception), perform then - revolutions in the 
same direction. In the zodiac they all proceed from Aries to 
Taurus : none of them moves in the opposite direction. The 
diurnal rotations, so far as we know, all follow the same 
course. It is impossible to ascribe this to chance : it must 
he the effect of design ; for, considered as casual productions, 
the chances of their all moving: in a direct, and none of them 



112 ASTRONOMY. 

in a retrograde course, are almost incalculable.* That the 
planets should all move in the same direction, in their orbits, 
is essential to the stability of the system. f For, had it been 
otherwise, the inequalities would not have had their regular 
periods of increase and decrease, as at present, but would 
have gone on increasing till they brought on the destruction 
of the whole fabric. 

It may be inquired, whether the planetary system be steady 
and permanent. Are then' no principles of dissolution ope- 
rating in the apparently harmonious combination of globes'? 
Are there no soliciting and disturbing causes which shall 
ultimately accomplish the overthrow of the whole? To such 
queries we answer, that in every system of bodies gravitating 
towards a centre, and reciprocally acting upon each other, 
there will be perturbations; and such perturbations exist in 
our system. The planes of the planetary orbits are subject 
to a variation in their situation ; the inclinations of the orbits 
to the ecliptic are liable to a change : the figure of the earth's 
orbit is approaching towards a circle ; and, owing to this cause, 
the mean motion of the moon is increasing: the obliquity of 
the ecliptic is diminishing. But have these changes no limits 1 
Will they go on increasing till they terminate in the dissolu- 
tion of the system 1 To these questions the investigations of 
modern science enable us to reply, that these changes have 
limits; and that the variations, irrregularities, or inequalities 
of the solar system are periodical, and return into themselves. 
The whole oscillates round a certain quantity from whieh it 
can never greatly depart. These variations travel their rounds 
in fixed periods. The periods of some of them are short, 
while those of others involve hundreds of years. But still, 
at the close of their respective periods, each returns to the 
point from which it set out, and is found in its orbit as if no 
such disturbance had happened. After certain periods the 
planes of the planetary orbits will return to the positions from 

* La Place has calculated, that the probability of the motions 
of the- solar system have taken place without the operation of a 
superintending mind is so small, that it may be considered as 
nothing. It is as 2 : 2-*a — 1 ; i. e. it is as 2 is to 4398046511103. 
These motions alone furnish an almost decisive proof of the ex- 
istence of a designing cause. 

f As the planes of the satellites of Uranus are nearly per- 
pendicular to the orbit of the planet, the direction of their mo- 
tion, whether retrograde or otherwise, can have no sensible in- 
fluence upon the system. 



ASTRONOMY. 113 

which they departed ; the inclinations of their orbits to the ' 
ecliptic will return into themselves ; the figure of the earth's 
orbit will come back to its original form ; and the mean mo- 
tion of the moon will decrease by the same steps by which it 
has increased. The obliquity of the ecliptic will never change 
above two degrees ; and, vibrating within such narrow limits, 
the seasons will never be sensibly affected by it. 

For the permanency of the system necessity cannot be plead- 
ed, as it depends on conditions which are not necessary. 
These conditions are, that the attraction be inversely as the 
squares of the distances; that the orbits be not far removed 
from circles ; that the planets all move in the same direction; 
and that the planes of their orbits are not much inclined to one 
another.* These conditions are not essential to a system of 
bodies mutual]} 7 gravitating towards each other. They do 
not necessarily arise from the action of any physical cause 
known to us. Any of them might be changed, while the others 
remained the same. The appointment of such conditions, 
therefore, as would ensure the stability and permanency of the 
system, is not the work of necessity : it cannot be the work 
of chance, for chance could never have brought together such 
an assemblage of independent conditions. It must, therefore, 
be the work of design ; yea of boundless wisdom, which, at 
one comprehensive glance, saw the system in all its variety, 
and perceived the conditions essential to its permanency. 

The comets are bodies of little density, and consequently 
their disturbing power is little felt on the planets.f 

Having made these observations on the solar system, let 
us now glance at the fixed stars. 

* This last condition, it may perhaps be alleged, does not 
bold in some of the new planets; but these planets are very 
small bodice, and their action on the system must be altogether 
insensible. 

f The very different positions and inclinations of the orbits of 
comets to the ecliptic seems not to be the effect of chance ; but 
give us reason to acknowledge and admire the wisdom of Deity. 
If the planes of their orbits had been in that of the ecliptic, or 
very near it, then every time that a comet descended towards 
the sun, or returned from its perihelion, we would have been 
exposed to the danger of being struck by it, if unhappily the 
earth had then happened to be at the points of intersection ; or 
at least, according to Whiston, we would have run the risk of 
being inundated by its tail. But according to the present con- 
stitution of things this risk is avoided.— See Moxtucla, vol. ii, 
p. 636, 2d edition. 

10* 



114 ASTRONOMY. 

On departing from the orbit of Uranus, the remotest of the 
planets, so far as we at present know, we must traverse, in 
all probability, between two and three hundred thousand times 
the distance of the earth from the sun, a space which we may 
compute in numbers, but which imagination can scarcely con- 
ceive, before we reach the nearest of the fixed stars.* From 
that point, sound would take millions of years to travel to our 
earth. Notwithstanding- this immense distance, some of the 
fixed stars, probably the least remote, such as Sirius and Arc- 
turus, shine with great brilliancy. In a clear nig-ht, by reason 
of their twinkling, they seem to be innumerable. But, in 
reality, the number discernible by the naked eye is not very 
great, being- only about three thousand ; and it is but seldom 
that one-third of that number can be seen, even by a good eye, 
at the same time. On using a powerful telescope, however, 
their numbers exceed calculation. They are clustered through- 
out the immensity of space in such multitudes as to bewilder 
the imagination in their countless number, and in the incon- 
ceivable extent of the universe. f 

They shine by their own light. The delicate discovery of 
the aberration of the fixed stars shows that the velocity of 
their light is the same as that which comes from the sun. It 
is also capable of the same modifications as the solar light, 
being reflected and refracted according to the same laws. 
Hence it appears that the sun and the fixed stars are bodies 
of the same nature : and, according to the opinion of the most 
enlightened philosophers, these stars are so many suns, each 
surrounded with its own planetary system ; although, on ac- 
count of their immeasurable distance, these planets are alto- 
gether invisible to us. 

We speak of these stars as fixed, because they preserve the 
same relative position with respect to one another. But there 
is no clear evidence of their absolute immobility. Sirius, 
Arcturus, and Aldebaran, have been observed to make a small 

* The annual parallax of the fixed stars has not yet been as- 
certained. But if we suppose it not to exceed 1", the distance 
of the fixed stars cannot be less than 206265 times the radius of 
the earth's orbit. As light traverses the latter in 8' 13", it 
will require 3 years and 79 days to come from a fixed star to the 
earth. — See Playfaiii's Outlines, vol. ii. p. 217. 

f The more powerful the telescope, the greater is the number 
of stars seen. La Lande computed, that, with a forty foot tele- 
scope, a hundred millions were visible — Mo.xtccla, vol. iv. 
p. 29. 



ASTRONOMY. 115 

change in their places ; and, according to some, the solar sys- 
tem is not confined to a certain region in absolute space, but 
has a progressive motion. Perhaps all the great bodies of the 
universe are grouped together in systems mutually support- 
ing each other, and moving in orbits round a central point in 
the immensity of space ; or they maybe supported in their 
stations in a way of which we have no conception. For al- 
though we see processes of vast extent going on, and princi- 
ples of wide operation established, yet we are not to confine 
the Supreme Architect to these principles and processes only, 
because we know of no other. We see enough to convince 
us that He can vary his means as circumstances require, and 
that no end is beyond his powers of execution. 

What a great and glorious scene, then, do the heavens ex- 
hibit to our view ! Millions, and tens of millions of suns are 
stationed at convenient distances throughout the immensity of 
space, enlightening, and warming, and fertilizing hundreds 
of millions of worlds, all wheeling in busy and silent revolu- 
tion round their several points of attraction ; or bound together 
in systems of mutual gravitation. Judging from analogy, and 
from all that we can perceive of the operations of him who 
never works in vain, we are constrained to conclude that all 
these worlds, formed, and projected, and guided by the potent 
arm, and under the immediate inspection of the Almighty 
Sovereign, are inhabited by different orders of beings, with 
organs accommodated to the different circumstances in which 
they are placed, and endued with different degrees of intel- 
lectual capacity. What a noble scene ! How ambitious ought 
we to be to extend our acquaintance with it in the progress of 
our existence ! If creation be so great, O how great must the 
Creator be! He not only made, but he upholds and governs 
the mighty system of the universe. Not a movement of any 
orb but is guided by his hand ; and not an action of a rational 
creature that escapes his e3>-e. How well is he entitled to our 
homage and obedience ! 

Our earth, in all its beauty, variety, _and magnificence; 
oceans, lakes, and rivers, mountains, valleys, and plains, cloth- 
ed with verdure and enriched with plenty, diversified and enli- 
vened with numerous inhabitants, presents a rich and charm- 
ing scene to the imagination. But when we contemplate the 
number and magnitude of the heavenly orbs, the myriads of 
worlds profusely spread throughout the immeasurable regions 
of space, upheld by Almighty power, arranged and directed 
by consummate wisdom, replenished with inhabitants, many 
of whom, no doubt, occupy a higher station, are endued with 



116 ASTRONOMY. 

nobler powers, and clothed with a brighter glory than man, 
then the magnificence of oor earth dwindles away, and the 
dignity of our nature and race seems absorbed in the brilliancy 
of the mighty constellation of intellectual beinjr. Instead of 
overpowering our faculties, or damping our energy, let the 
view elevate the soul, awaken the ambition, and invigorate 
theexertions of rational and immortal man. Let him rejoice 

forms a part in such a mighty scheme ; that he stands 
so hirrh on the scale of existence. Other beings m:.' 
dued withm >re vigorous and enlarged faculties; butheisnot 
doomed to remain stationary in the place which he now occu- 
pies. His powers are capable of high improvement ; and 
who shall set limits to his progress in the pursuit of excellence ] 
What attainments are within his reach, how far his faculties 

• expand, what noble rewards may yet crown his dili- 
gence and activity, and with what dignity hemayyet appear 
among the chosen of the universe, no language can express, 
tion conceive ! 
The wise and benevolent Sovereign of Nature, reigning 
with vigilant affection over innumerable worlds, peopled with 
inhabitants whose organs are suited to their respective situa- 
tions, all rejoicing in the existence, adoring the perfections, 
and grateful for the goodness of the bountiful Creator; what a 
magnificent and ennobling scene ! While the melody of praise 
and°the incense of thanksgiving ascend from all quarters of 
the universe towards the throne of the Almighty, what shall 
we think of those few beings, perhaps of our race chiefly, who 
refuse to join in the general symphony, and who not only 
withhold the tribute of adoration and gratitude, but audacious- 
ly deny the existence of the Creator? Guilty and miserable 
creatures ! they cast themselves out from the great society of 
blessed intelligences, and forfeit the felicity prepared for the 
grateful and obedient subjects of the Universal Sovereign. 

In our cursory glance at Nature, we have seen a wonderful 
scene : minute precision, and splendid magnificence : striking 
uniformity, and endless variety; apparent carelessness and 
irregularity, and the next perfect order and exquisite arrange- 
, all united, la examining the parts, we meet with 
skilful contrivance, admirable workmanship, and exact ad- 
justment. As there is an accurate adaptation and reciprocal 
dependance of the parts, so those parts are combined in one 
harmonious and magnificent whole. Obvious traces of design 
everywhere occur; and as certainly as design proves a de- 
signing cause, so certainly do we prove the existence of an 
intelligent Creator. We do not, indeed, see or feel the Deity, 



ASTRONOMY. 117 

in the same manner as we see or feel a material object. But 
although he himself is invisible, his operations are manifest. 
Creation proclaims the being of the Creator. The attributes 
of mind are evidently displayed, and the existence of God is 
as fully ascertained, as if we saw him with his right hand up- 
holding the sun, with his left directing the stars in theii 
courses ; and heard his voice proclaiming, " I form the light, 
and create darkness; I the Lord do all these things " 



BOOK III. 

OF THE PERFECTIONS OF DEITY. 



CHAPTER I. 

OF THE UNITY OF DEITY. 

Design and contrivance are fully established by the facts 
and arguments stated in the preceding part of this treatise. 
But design and contrivance are acts of mind, and their exist- 
ence in the universe plainly proves it to be the pioduction of 
an Intelligent Cause. We now, therefore, proceed to inquire 
into the character of the Supreme Intelligence, in so far as it 
is discoverable in the works cf his hand. We, indeed, know, 
and perhaps at present we can know but little about the Di- 
vine Essence, and the manner in which the Deity exists and 
acts ; but our ignorance or imperfect knowledge of those 
things is not even a shadow of argument against the exist- 
ence of the Supreme Being. It is nothing more than a proof 
of our limited capacity. In investigating the character of the 
Deity, as discoverable from his works, we may assume it as 
a principle, that whatever qualities appear in the design and 
contrivance, may justly be ascribed to the designing and 
contriving Mind, in the degree, at least, in which they are 
manifested in the design and execution. For instance, the pla- 
nets, bodies of vast magnitude, have been projected with pro- 
digious velocity ; and that velocity and the direction have 
been so nicely adjusted to the quantity cf matter in each of 
the planets, and to their respective distances from the sun, 
as to make them describe such orbits as shall ensure the 
stability and permanency of the system. We cannot err in 
ascribing to the Author of the system a power equal to the 
projection of the planets in their orbits with the requisite velo- 
city, and a wisdom equal to what was necessary in order to 
the establishment, of such conditions as are sufficient for the 
security of the system. And in so far as the constitution of 
remotes the happiness of sentient beings, the attri- 
bute of goodness must also be admitted. 



THE UNITY OF DEITY. 119 

Although we cannot err in ascribing to the Deity those at- 
tributes which are manifested in creation, and in that deo-ree 
in which they are there displayed, yet we are not to limit the 
perfections of God by his works. Before we can pi 
from the works of Deity, to set limits to his attributes, iv> ! 
conditions seem to be requisite. First, we must completelj 
understand the work in all its extent. Secondly, , 
perceive some defect in the obvious plan, which coi I 
only from a limitation of the perfections. If the plan be per- 
fect in its kind, we are not authorized to infer that he who 
contrived and executed it was unable to have contrived and 
executed a nobler plan. Because the architect has built a 
cottage, we are. not to conclude that he was incapable of con- 
structing a palace. He has executed his plan , and we have 
no evidence of his incapacity for a more extensive and splen- 
did work. If the present work be well finished, according 
to the obvious design, the presumption is, that he could 
equally well have built a more superb mansion if he had un- 
dertaken it. 

In like manner, while we ascribe to God all the per, 
manifested in his works, we are not to imagine thai all the 
resources of his perfections were exhausted in the execution 
of those works which fall under our inspection. 1 1 
ercised all that perfection which his plan required, and the 
presumption is, that he could have exercised more if more 
had been needful. For example, mighty power is displayed 
in the projection of the planets; but we are not authorized to 
infer that all the power of God was exerted in that projec- 
tion. The power requisite in order to the accomplishment of 
the end was exerted; the exertion of a greater decree < :f 
power would have been subversive of the end, and,° there- 
fore, the exercise of power was regulated as well as directed 
by wisdom. A similar observation may be aoplied to the 
other attributes of God. In judging of his perfections from 
his works, we must not lose sight of his plan, and we are to 
ascribe to him all the perfections manifested in the plan, and 
all that by legitimate reasoning can be deduced from the exe- 
cution of it. 

It is reckoned a fundamental rule in philosophy, not to sup- 
pose more causes than are needful to produce the effect. This 
principle conducts us to the unity of Deity ; for the necessi- 
ty of finding an adequate efficient cause does not compel us 
to have recourse to a plurality of gods. The power that was 
equal to the creation of a part was equal to the creation of 
the whole. But we are not obliged to rely on a principle of 



120 THE VXITY OF DEITY. 

this kind, in order to establish the unity of Deity. The uni- 
formity of plan that pervades the system indicates unity ot 
counsel, ;it least in its formation. We can trace unity ot 
plan in the greal fabric of the universe, so far as we are ca- 
pable of observing it. The law of gravitation prevails through- 
out the solar system. All the bodies in that system seem to 
revolve on their own axes: all the planets move in the same 
direction in the zodiac. The light of the fixed stars aflects 
in the same way as that of the sun ; and it travels at 
the same rate, as we learn from the delicate discovery of their 
aberration. On descending to our earth we find a similar 
uniformity prevailing, and can easily trace the harmonious 
combination of many great parts into one magnificent whole. 
The earth is a component part of the solar system; and 
in it many independent conditions must meet, in order to ren- 
der it a convenient residence for beings organized as its pre- 
sent inhabitants are. It is a terraqueous globe, clothed with 
an invisible aerial robe; and the dry land is covered with a 
mould capable of imbibing moisture, and supporting vege- 
tation. The earth is enlightened and warmed by the sun, 
the central body of the system. If the earth had been a de- 
tached body, wholly unconnected with any other orb, dark- 
ness and sterility would have established upon itan everlast- 
ing empire. But the sun is provided ; a condition essential 
to \-eo-e table and animal existence. The atmosphere also was 
requisite. It refracts and reflects the beams of the sun in 
all directions, and sheds a flood of light on the earth. The 
sun exhales vapours from the ocean ; the atmosphere supports 
those vapours, and by its currents carries them to the dry 
land, where they descend in refreshing showers, aflording 
nourishment to vegetables, and a wholesome beverage to man 
and beast. With all the conditions mentioned, the earth 
niio-bt have been the mansion of melancholy silence and eter- 
nal sterility ; for, the sun, the atmosphere, the ccean, the 
soil, cannot produce a single pile of grass, or a single herb, or 
a sino-le tree, without seed. JJut seed is liberally provided ; 
and bence the earth is clothed with verdure and enriched with 

1 ) 1 c 1 1 1 V • 

The sun, however, might have beamed in the firmament, 
the rain distilled on the tender plant, and luxuriant herbage 
crowned the mountain and waved on the plain, without a sin- 
gle sentient being to enjoy the scene, or partake of the rich 
feast which the bountiful Creator had provided. But God 
does not work in vain. Having fitted up such a noble habi- 
tation, he replenished it with tenants of many different kinds, 



THE UNITY OF DEITY. 121 

all capable of enjoying the accommodations with which it is 
stored, and of relishing the happiness which it is calculated 
to afford. There are perhaps 20,000 different kinds of living 
creatures upon our globe. Among these there is a great va- 
riety; but at the same time an uniformity so striking, as to 
indicate the same skilful hand in their formation. They all 
respire by lungs, gills, or air tubes. All animals lake in food : 
in all, the processes of digestion and assimilation are carried 
on; and an excreinentitious part is thrown off. They all 
propagate their kinds. 

Vegetables draw sustenance from inorganic matter, and 
prepare food for sentient beings. Plants have their appro- 
priate vessels, for conveying the sap and peculiar juices 
through the stem, branches, and leaves : animals have blood- 
vessels for an analogous purpose. The gradations in the 
animal world all proclaim the workmanship of the same hand. 
Here we see a very complicated system : many independent 
parts are combined into one harmonious whole. The differ- 
ent parts of nature are admirably adjusted to each other. The 
relations between the different parts of the system ; between 
the sun, the earth, the air, and the ocean ; between the ani- 
mate and inanijnate parts of creation ; direct us to one power- 
ful Creator. 

One agent is often made subservient to many different pur- 
poses. One sun illuminates many worlds ; the light and 
heat which emanate from that luminary answer many valua- 
ble ends. To man the uses of air and water are multifarious. 
The ocean is also the seat of much enjoyment, and the air 
the chief scene of felicity to many a happy being. In travel- 
ling over the earth we meet with different climates ; nature 
puts on various aspects ; and nations differ in their appear- 
ance, maimers, and laws. Still we meet with nothing indi- 
cating the hand of a different artist, or the government of a 
different sovereign. All nature points to one great Author. 
Unity of plan pervades the universe; and from this unity of 
plan we may fairly infer the unity of Deity. One Supreme 
Mind planned the great system of nature, still upholds it in 
existence, and continually superintends the government of 
the whole, 

11 



122 ) 
CHAPTER II. 

OF THE POWER OF DEITY. 

That the Deity is an all-powerful Being evidently appears 
from his works. The Architect who could build the stupen- 
dous fabric oi the universe must be omnipotent. We can 
conceive do hounds to the power of him who was able to sta- 
tion the sun in the firmament, and to launch the planets with 
such velocity in their orbits. Limiting our view to the solar 
system, which is merely a speck in the immensity of space 
and amid the myriads of worlds with which space" is replen- 
ished, must we not be amazed on beholding the sun in ma- 
jesty occupying a central position, and presiding over the 
great globes, which in silent and unceasing revolution wheel 
around him. Think on the dimensions of the planets, and 
their rapidity in their orbits. What a potent arm must have 
projected, with such prodigious velocity, those vast bodies 
into the illimitable void ! Our earth, almost eiaht thousand 
mi es in diameter, travels about fifteen hundred thousand 
miles in a-day ; and, at the same time, it is spinning on its own 
axis, and turning up, successively, the vegetables and ani- 
mals which it nurses on its bosom, to the genial influence of 
the solar rays. And, with this inconceivable rapidity, how 
unceasing, steady, and uniform, are its motions. The same 
holds in the other planets, some cf them vastly larger than 
our globe. Each of them regularly and steadily performs its 
revolutions. The power capable of producing those effects 
is immeasurably greater than what we experience in our- 
or perceive in any visible agent, and may with pro- 
priety be described as Omnipotent; because nothing in our 
observation or experience authorizes us to set limits to it. 

We ascribe infinity to all the attributes of Deity. But in- 
finity is a word to which we can attach no precise concep- 
tions. 1 he very use of the word is an admission that the 
thing to which it is applied is above the grasp of our com- 
prehension; and when applied to any of the perfections of 
Deity, it means that those perfections go as far as our minds 
can follow them, and how much farther we cannot tell. \nd 
certainly, when we contemplate the power displayed in the 
universe, an* the numberless instances and incalculable va- 
riety of the manifestations of wisdom and goodness, we may 
with reverence, admiration, and gratitude, describe thi 
fections of Deity as infinite. 



THE WISDOM OF DEITY. 123 

It is obvious that the power which could create the world 
is able to uphold it in being. God must preserve the world 
which he has created, for that which derived its existence 
from another does not necessarily exist. It could not so 
exist in the first moment of its being, nor yet at any future 
period ; and mast, consequently, owe the continuance of its 
existence to him from whom its being was primarily derived. 
There is no medium between necessary existence and depend- 
ance on a cause. A creature can no more preserve than make 
itself. 

There is an essential difference between creation and works 
of art. For though works of art cannot make themselves, 
yet, when made, they can continue to exist without the artist 
who made them. A house cannot build itself; but, when 
built, it stands as long as the materials and workmanship 
last. We must observe, however, that the artist merely 
gives a particular form to that matter which depends on the 
power and will of the Creator for the continuance of its exist- 
ence. The particular form given by the artist exists in sub- 
jection to the laws which the Creator has established for the 
government of that matter which he upholds in being. Al- 
though the facts that God at first created, and that he still 
preserves all things are clear, yet the manner of creation and 
of preservation are equally above our reach. 



CHAPTER III. 

OF THE WISDOM OF DEITY. 

Wisdom is manifested in employing fit and adequate means 
for the accomplishment of its ends. It obviously appears to 
have been the purpose of God that this world should be a 
proper place of residence for animals of many different kinds, 
and that all the animals should enjoy the means of preserv- 
ing for a time the life of the individual, and of continuing 
the species. These ends are completely accomplished, and 
accomplished by such a complicated and diversified combi- 
nation of independent circumstances as gives a most exalted, 
view of the Divine wisdom. This world was to be fitted up 
as a place of residence for its present inhabitants. For this 
purpose, light and heat, and air and moisture, were neces- 
sary. Accordingly, the sun was provided to enlighten and to 
warm the earth ; a vast basin was scooped out, and the waters 



124 THE WISDOM OF DEITV. 

of the ocean poured into it; the atmosphere was thrown 
around the earth to be the carrier and dispenser of this mois- 
ture exhaled by the sun. 

Between the animated and inanimated parts of nature we 
see the most astonishing relations. There is a fine corres- 
pondence between the atmosphere and the respiratory organs 
of animals. '! - are very different in different liv- 

ing creatnn s; bul in each they are wisely accommodated to 
the configuration and circumstances of the animal, and in all 
they accomplish their great vital function. In the atmo- 
sphere, and in the organs of respiration in connection with the 
other parts o{ the constitution, we have an adequate provi- 
sion for the existence of the animal ; but it is subject to a 
daily and hourly waste, and needs a frequent supply. This 
supply is provided, as well as a complete apparatus for tak- 
ing it into the system. 

The earth is clothed with a great variety of vegetables 
which extract nourishment from inorganic matter, and afford 
sustenance to man and beast. All the different animals are 
furnished with means of subsistence ; and when we attend 
to the manner in which every animal is fitted for collecting, 
eating, and digesting its food, we perceive a display of con- 
summate wisdom in the admirable adaptation and combina- 
tion of means, in order to the accomplishment of an end. As 
wisdom undeniably appears in the complete provision made 
for the preservation of the individual, so it is equally mani- 
fest in the efficacious means which are employed for the con- 
tinuance of the species. Some classes of animals live longer 
and some shorter, but all are capable of continuing their 
kinds; and we see a wonderful system established, for nurs- 
ing and protecting the young till they are capable of provid- 
ing for themselves. No species perishes either through a 
failure of the means of subsistence to the individual, or from 
incapacity to continue the species; and the reproductive 
powers of the several kinds are adapted and proportioned to 
the term of their existence, and to the dangers to which they 
are exposed. 

When we, then, consider the boundless extent, and vast va- 
riety of things, the skilful adaptations that everywhere occur, 
and the beautiful order and regularity that prevail in nature, 
we must pronounce him who was capable of conceiving and 
executing such a plan a Being of infinite wisdom. His wis- 
dom no difficulty can baffle; it is equal to every emergency. 
In every possible combination of circumstances, he at once 
es the best plan, and the best means for carrying that 



THE GOODNESS OF DEITY. 125 

plan into execution. But on the wisdom of the Creator we 
have already had frequent opportunities of remarking, when 
contemplating particular parts of his works ; and, with respect 
to man, considered as a moral agent, a number of observations 
relating to this attribute of Deity will present themselves in a 
subsequent part of the Treatise. 



. CHAPTER IV. 

OF THE GOODNESS OF DEITY. 

The same observations which prove the wisdom of Deity, 
may, in general, be adduced as evidences of goodness ; for if 
the end to be accomplished promote the happiness of sentient 
beings, then every display of wisdom in the accomplishment 
of that end is a demonstration of benevolence ; and, in most 
instances, the same facts which demonstrate wisdom, prove 
benevolenee also. In order to prove malevolence, or even the 
absence of goodness, it would be necessary to show that the 
life of the individual is a state of misery, or utterly destitute 
of enjoyment, and that the preservation of that life, and the 
continuation of the species, are merely a prolongation of suf- 
fering, or of insipid existence. It would be necessary to prove 
this, not in a few insulated cases only, hut to show that it 
predominates in the system of nature. A proof of this kind 
no person in the right use of reason will attempt. 

Dr. Paley rests the proof of the Divine goodness on the two 
following propositions : 

1st, " That in a vast plurality of instances in which con- 
trivance is perceivable, the design of the contrivance is bene- 
ficial." 

2d, " That the Deity has superadded pleasure to animal 
sensations, beyond what was necessary for any other purpose ; 
or when the purpose, so far as it was necessary, might have 
been effected by the operation of pain." 

Both of these propositions can be clearly established; and 
the establishment of them proves the goodness of Deity. I 
shall therefore make a few observations in illustration of 
them. 

1st, " In a vast plurality of instances, in which contrivance 

is perceived, the design of the contrivance is beneficial." 

This proposition I am inclined to render more general than it 

is stated by Dr. Paley. For in animated nature, which is the 

11* 



126 THE GOODNESS OF DEITY. 

region where goodness is felt and enjoyed, I know of no in- 
stance of contrivance which is not beneficial to the being 
which is ; 'i<- objecl of that contrivance. The benefit of the 
contrivance is indeed more obvious in some cases than in 
others; in most cases, I believe, it may be perceived ; and in 
no instance can it be shown to be injurious. It is obvious in 
most of the organs of sense ; and all the organs of sense are 
undeniably beneficial. Are not the articulations of the bones 
beneficial? Is not the configuration of the alimentary and 
intestinal canal beneficial 1 Arc not the hoof of the horse, 
and the paw of the lion beneficial ? Take any animal, and in 
attending to the whole, or to any part of its organization, you 
will find it adapted to the manners and circumstances of the 
animal and conducive to its existence, security, and happi- 
ness. Consider the vast variety of sentient beings, as well 
as the various contrivances in their structure, and when you 
reflect that all these are conducive to their welfare, you must 
be astonished at the comprehensive beneficence of the Crea- 
tor. 

The goodness of Deity is manifested in the liberal provi- 
sion made for the subsistence of every living creature. There 
is a relation, strongly expressive of benignity, between ani- 
mated and inanimated nature; for the earth produces a suffi- 
ciency for the subsistence of all the living beings upon it; 
and in life all animals seem to have enjoyment. The heart of 
him who sympathizes with the inferior creatures in their 
pleasures, will often be delighted on contemplating their feli- 
city, and will feel its own happiness increased by witnessing 
their enjoyments. If we turn to mankind, they also enjoy 
much felicity. Even after all the evils that we bring upon 
ourselves by the abuse of our free agency, we are oftener in 
health than in sickness, oftener in joy than in sorrow. That 
there are sorrows and pains is evident; but in human life they 
do not preponderate. They will engage our attention in a sub- 
sequent part of the work. 

2d, " The Deity has superadded pleasure to animal sensa- 
tions, beyond what was necessary for any other purpose; or 
where the purpose, so far as it was necessary, might have 
been effected by the operation of pain." 

If it be the will of the Supreme being that sentient crea- 
tures shall exist, he must endow them with the means and 
capacities requisite to the continuation of their existence. 
But those means might answer the end, without contributing 
in any degree, to the happiness of the animal. They might 
demonstrate power and wisdom, and yet be no proof of good- 



THE GOODNESS OF DEITY. 127 

ness. For instance, food is necessary to the support of ani- 
mal life ; every animal, therefore, must be provided with the 
means of taking in food ; and if these means be well adapted 
to the end, they certainly demonstrate wisdom. But the act 
of eating' might be attended with no pleasure : nay, it might 
be attended with positive pain ; and the animal might be 
prompted to it merely by the desire of removing a greater 
pain by submitting to a less. If there be enjoyment in taking 
in food, which is certainly the case with all animals, then 
this is a demonstration of goodness in the Creator; for it 
shows that he has superadded pleasure beyond what was ne- 
cessary for the accomplishment of the purpose. 

The organs of sense were either necessary to the existence 
of the animal, or they were not necessary; but in either case 
they prove goodness in the Deity. For if we consider them 
as necessary, still they might have performed their office 
without communicating any positive pleasure ; but, in fact, 
they are all sources of enjoyment to the creature, and conse- 
quently proofs of goodness in the Creator. If we consider 
them as not necessarv, the proof of goodness is, at least, not 
weakened. For, in this case, they must have been bestowed 
merely as inlets to happiness, and are marks of gratuitous 
goodness. If we glance at the organs of sense, however, we 
will find them not only useful, but also sources of pleasure. 
What a variety of enjoyments do we obtain by means of the 
eye ! That it is a large inlet of felicity, no person in the right 
use of reason will deny. But if the Deity had been a male- 
volent being, this organ might have been the occasion of in- 
credible infelicity and pain. In a diseased state, it sometimes 
cannot bear the light. Unless the Deity had been benevolent, 
the eye, even in its natural state, might have been as much 
or more irritated by the action of light, than it presently is 
even when diseased. Compare, then, the difference between 
a sound and a diseased eye ; consider that the latter might 
have been the natural state of the organ, and certainly you 
will acknowledge the goodness of Deity. 

Our minds are so constituted, that we receive pleasure from 
the sight of many objects in nature: they might, however, 
have been so constituted that the sight of those objects would 
have been a source of perpetual irritation and pain. The ver- 
dure of the earth, which is so grateful to the eye, and the va- 
riegated landscape, the mountain and the wood, the valley 
and the stream, so exhilarating to the mind, might have pro- 
duced a contrary effect, and might have weighed as much in 
the scale of pain, as they now do in that of pleasure. What is 



1 '28 THE GOODNESS OF DEITV. 

true with respect to the eye. also holds of the other organs of 
sense. The ear is a source of much enjoyment. .Music yields 
high gratification, and often soothes and cheers the mind un- 
der the anxieties by which it is assailed. But the ear might 
have been otherwise constituted. Jt might have been so 
formed, that the gentlest whisper would have acted as power- 
fully upon it as a peal of thunder now does ; and that the 
most melodious note would have been as grating as a piercing 
Scream. How much more felicitous is our present condition, 
than what it could have possibly been in such circumstances ! 

The sense of smelling, also, not only contributes to our se- 
curity, but greatly promotes our happiness. How exhilara- 
ting is the breeze impregnated with fragrant odours ! how 
sweet the scent of the fields after a gentle summer shower ! 
If the Deity had not been benevolent, we might have been so 
constituted that every object around us would have affected 
our olfactory nerves as disagreeably as asafcetida, or even the 
intolerable stench of the zurilla. Taste, likewise is a source 
of much pleasure. But if a malevolent being had been the 
author of our existence, everything might have been made 
to taste like gall and wormwood. Feeling, also, might have 
been the cause of great suffering; for everything we touched 
might have irritated like a nettle ; but at present it is the 
source of much pleasant sensation. All our senses are wisely 
and beneficently accommodated to our nature and circum- 
stances, and so formed as both to contribute to our security 
and to promote our happiness. When we enjoy health and 
the approbation of our moral nature, how cheerful and happy 
do we feel ! Notwithstanding the murmurings of the queri- 
monious satirist, or the complaints of the discontented philo- 
sopher, man really is, or may be a happy being. Nature 
around him wears the aspect of placid satisfaction, exhibits 
cheering scenes of active enjoyment, and utters the gladden- 
ing note of felicity. 

The goodness of Deity appears not only in the general 
structure of our body, and in the formation of the different or- 
gans of sense, but also in that constitution of animated beings 
in which there is an effort to heal wounds and expel disease. 
The slightest bruise might have festered, and, like the break- 
ing out of waters, might have increased till it demolished the 
organized fabric. But nature makes a healing effort, and 
often wonderfully succeeds. This, however, is not all. Me- 
dicinal substances are provided in the mineral, vegetable, and 
animal kingdoms, of which man may avail himself to aid the 
efforts of liis constitution in healing wounds and curing dis- 



THE GOODNESS OF DEITY. 129 

eases. Here, as in every department of nature, we meet with 
an order of things fitted to awaken the curiosity, invite the 
research, reward the ingenuity, and increase the happiness of 
man . 

The goodness of Deity has provided means not only for 
healing wounds and curing diseases, but also for aiding our 
organs of sense under the infirmities of nature and the decays 
of age. The eye, for instance, is a beautiful and useful, but 
delicate organ. It is liable to infirmity and decay; but spec- 
tacles may be made to assist the sight under almost every 
configuration of the eye, and in every period of life. Similar 
remarks may be applied to the ear ; and the eye and the ear 
are two great inlets of pleasure. An observation of the same 
kind may be extended to our bodily diseases. The malignity 
of the small-pox was greatly mitigated by inoculation, and 
appears to be still farther subdued by vaccination. These 
remarks show wisdom and goodness plainly engraven on the 
face of nature ; for those attributes evidently predominate, so 
far as our observations extend. But before we are able to 
explain all the phenomena, and to answer objections, we 
must have some conception of the plan of Deity, particularly 
in reference to man, who is unquestionably the chief living 
being on this earth. He stands at the head of the animal 
creation on our globe, and the scheme of government which 
he is under must, to a certain extent, affect the destiny of the 
inferior creatures. The uniformity of the system requires 
that, in so far as they share a common nature with man, they 
shall be under the operation of common laws. 

In forming an estimate of the perfections of God from his 
works and government, we must attentively consider the end 
he has in view. To form some imaginary scheme of our own, 
and to pretend by that scheme to measure the Divine perfec- 
tions as exhibited in the conduct of a very different plan, is 
altogether absurd. We must take the plan of God, as it may 
be fairly collected from the established system of things ; 
and if that plan and the means employed for carrying it on be 
compatible with wisdom and goodness, then all objections 
against the Divine perfections, arising from some imaginary 
plan of our own, are nugatory. I shall, therefore, in the fol- 
lowing chapter, attend to the character and state of man, which 
will lead to observations on the design and government of 
the Deity respecting him. 



( 130 ) 



CHAPTER V. 

OF THE CHARACTER AND STATE OF MAN. 

Man is the lord of this world, and he is honourably dis- 
tinguished from its other inhabitants by peculiar qualities. In 
considering his character and stati . we observe that he is a 
rational and immortal being; that at present he is in a state 
of trial and discipline, under a system of moral government; 
and that his improvement and happiness are carried on and 
I by the exercise of his faculties. To each of these 
we shall for a little attend ; and a careful contemplation of 
the phenomena will enable us to discover and understand the 
plan of God respecting him. 

1. Man is a rational being. While the inferior animals are 
under the guidance of instinct, he is endued with nobler prin- 
ciples. Besides appetites, which he has in common with the 
brutes, he is dignified with intellectual, active, and moral 
powers, which they do not possess. Reason, memory, and 
imagination; desires, affections, and a moral faculty, are 
wonderfully combined in his nature, and form a singular and 
interesting being. He can observe, compare, and judge : he 
can vary his means, and suit his operations to the circum- 
stances in which he is placed. He can turn in upon himself 
and trace the operations of his own mind. He can survey 
the vast system of the universe ; discover the laws by which 
it is governed ; and learn the attributes of the Creator and 
Governor from the works of his hand. He can surround 
himself by a new creation, and combine in endless variety 
the objects with which lie is acquainted. He remembers the 
past ; and the lessons of experience not only furnish him with 
instructions for the regulation of his present conduct, but also 
enable him to anticipate what he may expect from the future. 
He hopes and he fears; he loves, and desires, and pursues ; 
he dreads and he shuns. His moral faculty indicates the path 
of duty, and it applauds or condemns. His intellectual, active, 
and moral powers are finely adjusted to each other, and form a 
being capable of much present enjoyment, and of vast im- 
provement in intellectual and moral excellence. How ab- 
surd is it to allege that undesigning chance produced such an 
intelligent and contriving being as man ! 

2. Man is immortal. The Creator has not constituted him 
an ephemeral being. He is destined to inherit eternity. And 
we are not driven to a future state in order to find a remedy 



THE CHARACTER AND STATE OF MAN. 131 

against present disorders. The conclusion naturally results 
from a fair and candid consideration of the phenomena. 

First, Our bodily fabric dies and is dissolved; but an 
opinion in favour of the immortality of the soul has almost 
universally prevailed in every age, and in every nation, among 
all ranks of men, and in every stage of society. It is not the 
badge of a sect, but the creed of man. We may find him 
without arts and without laws ; but the sentiment of immor- 
tality seems everywhere, and in every period, to have been 
entertained. The mind is impressed with an involuntary pre- 
sage of existence; and although the notion of a future state 
has been differently modified, according to the different cir- 
cumstances of those who have believed it, still the same ge- 
neral notion has prevailed. On this subject, the joint opinion 
of mankind, respecting a matter of common interest, is the 
voice of their nature proceeding from the universal Parent, 
intimating to his children the happiness which they are formed 
to enjoy, and the dignity and perfection which they are capa- 
ble of attaining. 

Secondly, The doctrine of immortality, the grand problem 
respecting'the nature of man, is attended "with the same diffi- 
culty as the being of God, and arising from the same cause ; 
the invisibility of the immortal principle. We are so much 
accustomed to bring everything to the test of our bodily 
senses, and to be guided by their evidence, that we are dis- 
posed to withhold belief in cases where they are incapable of 
giving testimony. This, I believe, is a chief source of scep- 
ticism, both with respect to the being of God and the immor- 
tality of man. Some think that all the operations of mind 
are the result of corporeal organization, and hence they infer 
that mind must perish on the dissolution of the organized 
fabric. Our knowledge, however, is by far too limited to 
encourage us to lay much stress upon this inference, even 
although the premises from which it is deduced were correct. 
"I do not see," says Dr. Paley, "that any impracticability 
need be apprehended by these ; or that the change, even upon 
their hypothesis, is far removed from the analogy of some 
other operations which we know with certainty that the Deity 
is carrying on."* 

For anything we know, matter, under all its modifications 
and combinations, is incapable of intellectual operations. If 
the case should be otherwise, who can for a moment doubt 
the ability of him who could attach thought and volition to 

* Paley's Natural Theology, p, 591. 



132 THE CHARACTER AND STATE OF MAN. 

jih. and moreen ^^feS^ enlarge- 
Theone,h^Aeo^may a continuation and 

ment of powers. | Aiier U1 ' . hich was formed 

enlargement of the same ^^J^^S^A^-. we 
before we saw the , light Th* abr ^^ ^ 

have no reason, how e^e, to con ^ ^^ 

thinking pnncip e Tl ejege ab e ^ ^ ^ same 
but it cannot be iairl) please i 1 1 ve<reta ble attains 

liEiiglisiii 

n °^/ y . Organized bodies maybe dissolved, and the forms 

. Stewart's Outlines, pp. 29, 228. 2d. edition. 
■J- Butler's Analog)', chap. i. 



THE CHARACTER AND STATE OF MAN. 133 

be changed. Our bodies are in a state of unceasing muta- 
tion; and these mutations, in many instances, greatly in- 
fluence our corporeal qualities ; but the consciousness of iden- 
tity is in no degree affected by those continual changes. 
Hence, as well as by the only conception which wc are ca- 
pable of forming of mind, we are led to infer that the think- 
ing principle is a simple and immaterial substance; and if 
it be so, the dissolution of the body by no means involves 
the extinction of that principle. It may continue to exist, 
to think, and to will, after the material tabernacle in which 
it is at present lodged shall be laid in ruins. Indeed, it must 
exist as a thinking principle, unless it be annihilated; for it 
cannot perish by alteration of form or dissolution of parts, 
and that it will be annihilated we have no reason to suspect. 
From the will in Deity to create, we may infer the design to 
preserve; and of annihilation we have no instances in the 
material world. Forms are changed; but substances remain, 
merely passing into new combinations. A simple and imma- 
terial substance, however, is not subject to a process of this 
kind. "While it exists, it must exist with properties un- 
changed. The removal of its material instruments cannot al- 
ter its essential qualities. But still, like every other created 
being, the continuance of its existence depends on the will 
of the Creator. 

Fourthly, Creation bears testimony to the wisdom and good- 
ness of the Creator. All his plans are wisely contrived and 
executed ; and we see nothing like a system of abortion in 
his works. All orders of organized beings seem to reach 
the utmost perfection of which their constitution admits, and 
to enjoy all the happiness of which they are capable. This 
is equally true of the plant and of the animal ; and we have 
no cause to suspect that man is an exception from the gene- 
ral rule. He is endued with faculties capable of high pro- 
gressive improvement ; and we have no reason to think that, 
in this world, he attains to all the perfection of which his na- 
ture is susceptible, or that his powers of progressive excel- 
lence, either moral or intellectual, are exhausted. We not 
unreasonably presume, then, that he is destined to survive 
the stroke of death, and continue his progress in improve- 
ment in a more advanced stage of existence. 

We do not here assume the wisdom and goodness of Deity 
to prove the immortality of the soul, in order that by the doc- 
trine of immortality we may obviate objections against the 
Divine attributes. No: We merely contend, that in so far 
as wisdom and goodness appear in the other parts of nature. 
12 



134 THE CHARACTER AND STATE OF MAN'. 

they are exercised towards man. If they be so exercised to- 
wards him, he must reach all that perfection, and enjoy all 
that happiness, of \vhi< h he is susceptible; for this seems a 
law which pervades the system of sentient being, and we 
have no evidence that man is an exception from it. Accord- 
ingly, he m. isi make all thai progress in excellence of which 
r, is capable; bul we think that his capacity of im- 
provement is nut exhausted in this world; and, therefore, we 
look for another where all his faculties will be fully expand- 
ed and attain maturity. 

Can we suppi se that a creature endued with sucb noble 
faculties, and capable of such progressive improvement, shall, 
at once and for ever, be arrested in his progress towards per- 
fection ? Has the Deity bestowed upon him powers capable 
of grand advances in excellence, and shall he stop him in 
his glorious career, blast his hopes, and destroy the fruit of 
all his toils] Has he inspired him with the sentiment of im- 
mortality, merely to disappoint him? With all Ins lofty ca- 
pacities," attainments, and anticipations, is man merely an 
ephemeral being? Must his labours and his hopes perish in 
the dust? Must all the splendour of his moral and intellec- 
tual nature vanish, like the meteor which gleams for a mo- 
ment, and is extinguished for ever? Are all the intimations 
of his nature, and of the world around him, mere delusions l 
These things cannot be so. The phenomena of the universe 
justify no such suppositions. Everything conspires to in- 
timate a different result. The sentiments of humanity, and 
the perfections of God, as engraven on his works, bear tes- 
timony to the immortality of man. The faculties winch have 
budded here shall blossom hereafter: the course of improve- 
ment begun in time shall be continued in eternity. How tar 
his faculties may yet expand, to what degrees of excellence 
he may ye1 attain," and with what dignity he may yet appear 
among the rational offspring of the Supreme Intelligence, no 
. ear, express or imagination conceive. my soul, 
rish, fondly cherish, the sublime hope of immortality! 
"While the dark and cheerless infidel looks to the grave as ter- 
minating his existence, like a river drunk up by the sand of 
the wilderness, still fix thine eye on the ocean of eternity . 
Remember the grandeur of thy prospects, the loftiness of thy 
hopes, and study to think and act as it becomes a being who 
shall yet associate with the highest created intelligi 
the universe, be engaged in the most exalted employments, 
and stand near the" throne of the mighty Sovereign of Na- 



ture ! 



THE CHARACTER AND STATE OF MAX. 135 

Oh this subject, I have merely glanced at the phenomena 
of nature and the sentiments of humanity ; and I contend for 
the truth which they seem to establish. If the evidence of 
the immortality of the soul be not so clear ami decisive as 
some might desire, it may be remarked, that a certain degree 
of obscurity is not unsuitable to a system of moral agi ncy, 
where we are called upon to act on probable and reasonable 
grounds, without expecting such a degree of evidence as will 
irresistibly force conviction: for if we suppose conviction to 
be irresistible, and also that such conviction irresistibly re- 
gulates conduct, what is this but necessity"? But that man 
either is, or oucrht to be, a necessary agent, cannot for a mo- 
ment be admitted. 

Farther, the degree of evidence on this subject is sufficient 
to influence human conduct; for it appears probable, at least, 
that man shall exist in a future state of being, and that his 
condition in that state shall be determined by his dispositions 
and conduct here. What in such circumstances is the dic- 
tate of sound wisdom 1 It surely is, to live as if we were 
certain of a future state of existence, for by pursuing this 
course we cannot possibly be losers. If there be a future 
state, then, we shall gain all the advantages resulting from 
our wise conduct : if there be no future state we lose nothing. 
Nay, we are gainers ; for the dispositions to be cultivated, 
and the conduct to be pursued, in the view of a future retri- 
bution, are such as ensure the greatest share of happiness in 
a present world. On the other hand, if any, because the evi- 
dence of immortality is not so clear and cogent as they could 
wish, shall live in the total disregard of a state of future re- 
tribution, then, if such a state actually awaits them, is there 
not great danger of their having committed an irreparable 
error, and of having subjected themselves to a dreadful, per- 
haps irretrievable loss ? 

II. Man is at present in a state of trial and discipline, un- 
der a system of moral government; and to fit him for this 
state he is constituted a free agent. He is endued with in- 
tellectual and active powers: he has judgment to know the 
meaning of a commandment, and ability to obey it. By 
" moral government" we understand the establishment and 
operation of laws for the direction of rational beings, and the 
enforcing those laws by rewards and punishments. The sub- 
ject of such a government must be a free agent. 

1. By the liberty of a moral agent we understand a power 
over the determinations of his own will ; and we call man a 
free agent in the same way, and with the same limitations, 



136 THE CHARACTER AXD STATE OF MAN. 

as we pronounce him a rational being. Every man has a 
conviction that he is free, and acts towards others in the per- 
suasion that they also are free. Our deliberations, purposes, 
and promises, all suppose liberty in ourselves; and our ad- 
vices, exhortations, and commands, suppose it in others. 
That man i.s a free agent appears to me indubitable. On this 
subject philosophers may talk, but consciousness and expe- 
rience decide. I am conscious of freedom. I can weigh 
motives and desires. ] can judge which arc most consonant 
to sound reason and to my best interest ; and yet can decline 
regulating my conduct by them. I can choose and refuse. I 
can act agreeably to the convictions of my understanding, or 
I can pursue a different course. Advice and exhortation may 
influence conduct, but they do not impair liberty. The same 
is the case with motives; they may prompt to action, but 
they do not act. A necessary agent, whose actions are as 
irresistibly determined by desires or motives as a stone in 
falling to the ground is by the great law of gravitation, can- 
not be the subject of moral government. He is incapable of 
virtue or vice, and unfit for reward or punishment. 

" Not free, what proof could they have giv'n sincere 

Of true allegiance, constant faith, or love, 

Where only what they needs must do appear'd, 

Not what they would? What praise could they receive? 

What pleasure I from such obedience paid, 

When will and reason (reason also is choice,) 

Useless and vain, of freedom both despoil' d, 

Made passive both, had served necessity, 

Not me ?"* 

Necessary agency and moral government are altogether in- 
compatible. The one of them naturally excludes the other. 
Every encroachment on free agency- implies a corresponding 
limitation of moral government. A necessary agent can nei- 
ther be praised nor blamed. Resembling a magnet travers- 
ing on its pivot, and turning towards the polar points, his 
will has no part in the determination of ids actions. Such a 
being cannot, any more than the mag'net,be the subject of re- 
ward or punishment. The determination of the will is the 
first part of the action, on which alone its moral value de- 
pends. Unless man be a free agent, there can be no more 



Paradise Lost, book iii. line 103. 



THE CHARACTER AND STATE OF MAN. 137 

moral worth in any part of his conduct than in the beautiful 
colouring of a fly's wing, in the melody of a thrush's note, 
or in the neat construction of a chaffinch's nest. Moral 
government implies free agency. 

2. Man is not only a free agent, but also an accountable 
creature. He is the subject of a moral government. 

Some ancient philosophers, although they professed to be- 
lieve in the being of God, yet taught that he gave himself no 
concern whatever about the affairs of this lower world. They 
represented him as enjoying a state of listless tranquillity and 
indolent repose above the clouds ; inattentive to the actions, 
and careless of the destiny, of men. This monstrous doctrine 
was a proper sequel to the irrational creed, that the world 
had been formed, not by the power and wisdom of Deity, but 
by a fortuitous concourse of atoms. In order to the belief 
that God took no notice of the affairs of the world, it was 
necessary first to exclude him from any concern in its forma- 
tion ; for if they had admitted that all things were made by 
him, it would not have been easy to have proved that he had 
divested himself of all regard to the works of his hand, and, 
like an unnatural parent, had ceased to think of them, to 
love, and to protect them. But sound reason, contemplating 
all the phenomena, rejects as absurdities the dogmas of the 
Epicurean school ; and pronounces that the Deity exercises 
not only a providential care over all his works, but also a 
moral government over man. 

The providential care of the Almighty is evident in the 
preservation of the established order of things, so that an 
adequate provision is made for supplying the wants, and ad- 
ministering to the enjoyments, of sentient beings. He more 
particularly exercises the right of an equitable sovereign over 
his rational offspring. His will is to them a law, and this 
law harmonizes with the system of nature in proclaiming the 
benevolence of Deity, by promoting the happiness of man. 
The law is not the arbitrary and capricious volition of an 
Omniponent Ruler. It emanates from wisdom and benig- 
nity, and is directed towards the general good, in a consist- 
ency with all the attributes of the Creator. The great prin- 
ciple of the law is utility; or, in other words, what the Deity, 
in his boundless wisdom, saw would be best, not merely for 
one or a few individuals, but for all ; best for all, if all were 
to obey it. 

The law is intimated to us by reason and the moral faculty, 
and the course of nature countenances and supports it. Rea- 
son, pondering all the phenomena, instructs us to revere tho 
13* 



138 THE CHARACTER AND STATE OF MAN. 

Deity; to exercise justice, candour, and mercy towards our 
fellow men ; and to cherish temperance, fortitude, and dili- 
gence in our several avocations. But for the discovery of the 
great outlines of the will of God and duty of man, we are not 
left to the exercise of reason alone. Conscience, or the mo- 
ral faculty, comes in to the aid of reason : and by reason and 
conscience all men perceive the great features of moral law.* 
Accordingly, there are certain dispositions and actions which 
have been always applauded or commended, and others 
which, as generally, have been the subjects of censure or 
detestation. All men approve of piety, benevolence, inte- 
grity, veracity, temperance, fortitude, industry: all men dis- 
approve of contrary dispositions and conduct. Reason and 
the moral faculty may be perverted. This perversion, how- 
ever, results from the abuse of free agency ; and for it man- 
kind have themselves to blame. Man is a free agent; but 
his body, his mind, and nature around him, are so constituted, 
that if he exercise his freedom in an irregular and capricious 
manner, in defiance of the dictates of reason and conscience, 
he must suffer a corresponding loss of happiness, or degree 
of pain. 

3. Man, even in his present state, is happy or unhappy, 
rewarded or punished, as he obeys or disobeys the law. This 
is a demonstration of a moral government. 

That the virtuous person, or he who performs his duty by 
obeying the will of God, enjoys much happiness; and that 
the vicious person, or he who lives in the habitual violation 
of the law intimated to him by reason and conscience, is sub- 
ject to much infelicity, are truths so obvious, that they have 
not escaped observation in any age. All men, indeed, suffer 
a greater or less degree of uneasiness and pain : but the vir- 
tuous man experiences far less than the vicious. The first 
tastes all those joys which the moral constitution of his na- 
ture imparts : the last not only loses those joys, but suffers 
the miseries flowing from a disapproving mind. 

There are sources of pleasure and pain common to us with 
the inferior animals, and consequently independent on moral 
conduct. Active exertion, animal gratification, worldly suc- 
cess, and the contemplation of some kinds of excellence, 



* By reason I understand the faculty by which we judge be- 
tween truth and error, and combine means for the attainment 
of ends : by conscience, that by which we distinguish between 
right and wrong. 



THE CHARACTER AND STATE OF MAN. 139 

yield enjoyment both to good and bad men. Although the 
Deity has demonstrated his goodness by multiplying the 
sources of felicity, yet the purest and most constant stream 
flows into the bosom of the virtuous person. He who obeys 
the will of God has the fairest prospect of enjoying bodily 
health. If two persons, with constitutions equally sound, 
enter together on the career of life, and if one of them pursue 
a moral and the other an immoral course, it will appear, at no 
distant period, that moral conduct has the advantage in point 
of bodily health. The virtuous man also enjoys most peace 
of mind; and this peace of mind contributes in no small de- 
gree to health of body. 

We are so constituted that reason and conscience not only 
indicate the will of God and the path of duty, but encourac-e 
and applaud us when we follow their direction, and disap- 
prove and censure us when we pursue a contrary course. 
The good man, feeling the favour of God in the approbation 
of his own mind, looks forward with a humble and cheerful 
confidence to the future. There is no load on his breast, and 
he dreads no evil. But the bad man is often uneasy : he is 
haunted by remorse, and depressed and agitated by gloomy 
and painful anticipations. How soothing are the accents of 
an approving mind ! What a sweet serenity, what a delight- 
ful complacency do they diffuse over the soul ! On the other 
hand, the condemnation of reason and conscience is bitter as 
gall and wormwood. Under their censure and reproof we 
feel restless, mortified, and unhappy ; and against the elud- 
ings of those internal monitors no bad man can at all tim.es 
fortify himself. They are perpetual spies on his thoughts 
and actions, and their bitter reproaches will be as thorns in 
his pillow. No external circumstances can rob the good man 
of the exalted enjoyment flowing from the approbation of his 
own mind. 

Obedience to the will of God is the surest way to obtain a 
competent portion of the good things of the world; for he 
who regulates his conduct by the law is temperate and in- 
dustrious, diligent in gaining and moderate in spending, and 
thus likely to enjoy a competency. I see no superstition in 
believing that the righteous Governor of the Universe, look- 
ing down with an eye of complacency on his dutiful children, 
may graciously crown their exertions with much success. 

The good person also enjoys the esteem and affection of his 
fellow men. Look at two characters ; the one is pious, up- 
right, humane, temperate, and industrious ; the other is irre- 
ligious, unjust, malignant, treacherous, indolent, and debauch- 



140 THE CHARACTER AND STATE OF MAX. 

nl. Which of these two would you choose for your friend 1 
To which of them would you commit a trust? All men in- 
stantly, and with one voice, give the preference to the virtu- 
ous character. They esteem him ; they love him; they wish 
him well. But the vicious person is the object of their con- 
tempt or detestation. Now, health of body, peace of mind, 
a competency of the good thitig-s of the world, and the esteem 
of mankind, are rewards which the righteous sovereign, in 
the ordinary course of his government, bestows upon his obe- 
dient subjects. A diseased body, an unhappy mind, poverty, 
and contempt, are punishments inflicted on the disobedient. 
It is obvious that the natural course of things tends to the 
production of these effects ; and if it be so, we are entitled to 
affirm, that the system of nature gives a sanction to the laws 
of the sovereign, and that a moral government is now carry- 
ing on. The instances in which such effects are not produced 
are exceedingly rare ; and at these exceptions we need neither 
be surprised nor offended, in a vast scheme of free agency 
going on under the operation of general laws. Such concep- 
tions" are perfectly compatible with a state of trial and disci- 
pline, in which all our powers of body and mind must be im- 
proved and strengthened by exercise. 

4. Exercise and trial are powerful means of improvement 
and sources of happiness ; and a future retribution awaits us. 

Man. as we have already seen, is a moral agent; and, ge- 
nerally speaking, he is happy or unhappy, as he obeys or 
disobeys the law intimated to him by reason and conscience. 
He is at present in a state of probation and discipline, under 
the eye of his Sovereign and Judge; and his improvement is 
carried on, and his happiness promoted by exercise and trial. 
We come into the world feeble in body and in mind, but with 
the seeds of improvement in both ; and these seeds grow ac- 
cording to the cultivation they receive from exercise. The 
body grows in stature and in strength, and the mind gradu- 
ally expands. But exercise is requisite to the developement 
both of our corporeal and mental capacities. In the course of 
years, indeed, the body grows ; but without exercise it is 
lumpish, feeble, and inactive; and the mind, wholly undisci- 
plined, remains in a weak and infantile state. That exercise 
which is requisite in order to bodily health and vigour, and 
to the evolution of our intellectual and moral powers, is not 
only the chief means of our improvement, but also the main 
source of our happiness. Without exercise of body and of 
mind there can be no enjoyment. 

The constitution of nature and the government of the Crea- 



THE CHARACTER AND STATE OF MAN. 141 

tor, are such as to call forth our bodily exertions, and to 
solicit and encourage the exercise of our intellectual and 
moral capacities. We are placed in circumstances calculated 
to awaken our faculties, to rouse activity, and to stimulate 
exertion. And man, when his powers are fully brought into 
action, can both do and suffer beyond what he would have 
previousl}' imagined. He can pass triumphantly through 
scenes which, in anticipation, he would have thought over- 
whelming. Under these trials, if he act wisely, he makes 
the most rapid progress in improvement, and the retrospect 
yields him the most exalted enjoyment. 

In all our conceptions, exertion is connected with success 
and renown. A triumph without an enemy combated and a 
victory won; a prize where no course is marked out, and no 
competitor starts with us in the race, are notions which do 
not find a ready admission into our minds. Such is our con- 
stitution, that, according to our usual train of thinking, where 
there is no exertion there can be neither honour nor reward. 
Progress in moral and intellectual excellence is our duty, 
our honour, and our interest. To be stationary or retrograde 
is disgraceful. In the progress of improvement, the present 
life soon comes to a close; but we are immortal beings, and 
we have reason to think that there is an intimate connexion 
between the present and the future. The whole of the Divine 
government, as exhibited in the course of nature, manifests a 
regard to piety, integrity, and sobriety; and an opposition 
to vice. The probability certainly is, that the great scheme, 
which is evidently going on at present, will be continued 
in a future state of being; and that they who have done 
their duty here, by employing their faculties and the ta- 
lents entrusted to their care in conformity to the will of the 
Creator, and who have passed through their various trials 
with improvement, will, after death, enter on a nobler stage 
of existence, where they will still pursue the course of excel- 
lence ; while they who have disregarded the intimations of 
reason and conscience, will suffer a corresponding loss. 



( 142 ) 
CHAPTER VI. 

EVIL IN THE WORLD. 

From our inquiries in the foregoing part of this treatise, it 
that there is a Being all powerful, wise, and good, 
by whom everything exists. The existence of this Being is 
demonstrated by every part of the universe which we are 
capable of observing; for, throughout the immense field that 
lies within the limits of the telescope on the one hand, and 
of the microscope on the other, we everywhere meet with 
manifestations of contrivance, with mutual adaptations, and 
reciprocal dependencies ; and by the constitution of our na- 
ture we are induced and constrained to believe in the exist- 
ence of a designing and contriving mind, an essence in which 
perceptions meet, and from which volitions flow. It is ob- 
vious, that to this contriving mind we must attribute power, 
wisdom, and goodness, in the degree at least necessary for 
constructing and carrying on the great system of the universe ; 
and we have seen that the manifestation of those perfections 
pervades the whole scheme of nature. 

But do all appearances in the natural and moral world ex- 
actly correspond with this representation'? Does everything 
throughout the universe obviously harmonize with the belief 
of a God all powerful, wise, and good 1 Are there no diffi- 
culties, no apparent inconsistencies, either in the natural or 
moral world 1 To such inquiries we may answer in general, 
that, in a syetem which we do not fully understand, it were 
unreasonable to expect that in every instance we should be able 
to give an explanation admitting of no doubt and of no reply. 

From the phenomena of nature it clearly appears that the 
Deity is immeasurably exalted above us. We inhabit a small 
province in his boundless empire, forming perhaps a link in 
a mighty chain of intelligent being under him, and ought not 
to consider ourselves as a detached fragment of his works, 
but as a harmonious part of one great whole. His plan no 
doubt embraces the whole destiny of our race, from the be- 
ginning to the end of the world. The administration of such 
a scheme is too comprehensive to be understood by us in all 
its extent ; and certain and perfect knowledge is by no means 
necessary to a moral agent. It is enough if we have such 
information as shall lay a rational foundation for the regula- 
tion of our conduct, for encouraging our hopes, awakening 
our ambition, and quickening our diligence. There is nothing 



EVIL IN THE WORLD. 143 

unreasonable in supposing that there are higher created intei- 
ligencies than we: tliey no doubt know more than we do ; 
but it is likely that their knowledge of the universe and of 
the Divine government is by no means perfect, and that the 
Author of the system is the only being who fully compre- 
hends every part of it. 

Difficulties which we are unable fully to solve may occur; 
but these difficulties, it is reasonable to think, arise solely 
from our ignorance and incapacity, and not from any imper- 
fection in the works or government of God. Accordingly, 
the difficulties will appear more numerous or more foi 
ble to some persons than to others. They will vanish in pro- 
portion as the light of knowledge increases, in the same way 
that darkness disappears before the rising sun. Beings of a 
higher order, of greater capacity, and more extensive^know- 
ledge than man, probably meet with fewer difficulties in the 
works and government of God than we do, and perhaps not 
in the same instances. To a well-informed person, of a 
sound understanding, many things may appear plain and or- 
derly, that seem dark and inconsistent to one of less know- 
ledge and sagacity. In the progress of knowledge, those 
things which seem inexplicable to one generation may be 
well understood by another. We know more than they of 
past ages did; but still there are many things of which we 
are ignorant, and many things, perhaps, of which man will 
always remain ignorant. Of the cause of gravitation we 
know nothing. Why the magnet attracts iron, and when al- 
lowed to move freely turns itself towards the polar points, 
and why poles of the same name repel each other, we do not 
understand. Many things relating to electricity have hither- 
to escaped our research, and the operations of this substance 
on the great scale of nature we can neither fully estimate nor 
explain. Our knowledge of the works of the Creator is li- 
mited and partial, and that of his ways is not more perfect. 

Even in these circumstances, however, we hold it to be a 
rational and edifying exercise to inquire into the attributes of 
Deity as manifested in his works and government ; but our 
investigations ought to be conducted with reverence, and un- 
der a sense of the immeasurable distance between God and 
man. Many of the objections which have been urged against 
the wisdom and goodness of the Creator we can fully and 
fairly answer, and of others we can give a probable solution : 
but wisdom and goodness appear in so many instances, that 
it is not unreasonable to believe in their existence even when 
We are unable to trace them. What we purpose to say far- 



144 EVIL IN THE WORLD. 

ther on this subject will be arranged under the heads of Evils 
of Imperfection, Moral Evil, and Natural Evil. The first of 
th, se \\ ill ii' I di i in us long; but on the two last we intend 
to dwell at greater length. 

I. EVILS OF IMPERFECTION. 

Why was not man made so tall as to be capable of wading 
the ocean ? Why has he not the strength of the elephant, 
and the piercing eye of the eagle ? Why are not his intel- 
lectual faculties more powerful, so that his perceptions of 
truth might be more clear, and his conduct more regular? 
That the objections involved in such questions are absurd, 
can, I think, be plainly shown. This class of objections, in 
reality, precludes all gradation of being, for they may be 
urged against the existence of every creature. Why was 
not every clod of earth made a sentient being 1 ? Why was 
not every sentient being endued with reason ? Why was 
not every rational nature adorned with all the attributes of 
Deity? Such is the extent of the objection, and its extent 
proves its absurdity; for absurd must every objection be 
which still remains in full force, what changes soever we 
suppose introduced in consistency with the notion of a Crea- 
tor and creatures, of a Sovereign and subjects. 

If it be alleged that this is straining the objection, which 
is meant to be applied to beings in certain circumstances only, 
then let the objector give a clear and consistent account of 
these circumstances. Let him determine the point beneath 
which sentient existence ought never to descend. Does he 
fix it at reason? Man possesses that faculty and to his na- 
ture on that point no objection can be made. A gradation of 
creatures is unquestionably consistent with wisdom and good- 
ness in the Deity; for, if a good objection lies against crea- 
tures occupying any one place in the scale, a similar objec- 
tion may be urged against those occupying any other place in 
it. Is the capacity of happiness reckoned essential to sen- 
istence ? It is evident that animals, under the guid- 
ance of instinct merely, are susceptible of much enjoyment 
And do not irrational creatures, while enjoying much happi- 
ness themselves, contribute to the comfort and felicity of ra- 
tional beings? This, I apprehend, cannot be denied. Un- 
organized matter nourishes vegetables. Vegetables feed many 
beings. Vegetables and irrational animals support 
rational natures. In the gradation, the inferior ministers to 
the sustenance, improvement, or happiness of the superior 



EVILS OF IMPERFECTION. 145 

parts. This process reaches as far as our observation extends. 
While the inferior are thus related to the superior parts in 
the scale, every class of sentient beings enjoys happiness ia 
its own sphere. 

The question is not whether we can conceive man to have 
been made a nobler being- than he is. I perceive nothino- un- 
reasonable in believing- that, in the multitude of worlds°with 
which the universe is replenished, there are many creatures 
vastly superior to the human race. But the inquiry is, whe- 
ther the constitution and circumstances of man, such as they 
are, be compatible with the existence of an all-powerful, 
wise, and good Being, the Creator and Governor of the uni- 
verse. The discussion of this subject leads to the conside- 
ration of moral and natural evil, from which the most impor- 
tant difficulties respecting the perfections and government of 
God arise. Before entering upon these topics, we shall here 
state some facts or principles, which, although they have been 
already mentioned more or less diffusely, may be here re- 
peated, in order that they may be more distinctly remem- 
bered. 

1. Man is a free agent. If the Deity be possessed of all 
moral perfections, it must be agreeable to his nature to exer- 
cise amoral government. But the subjects of a moral go- 
vernment must be free agents ; for a necessary agent is a 
mere machine, and is as unfit for being the subject of a moral 
government as a steam-engine or a windmill. Now, if it be 
consistent with wisdom and goodness to create free agents 
and to place them under a moral government, then the con- 
sequences of free agency and moral government cannot be 
pleaded as objections against those attributes. 

2. We are so constituted that our improvement and happi- 
ness are carried on and promoted by exercise, discipline, and 
trial. On this fact, however, I shall not at present dwell; 
for it has been already stated, and will be farther illustrated 
in a subsequent part of the treatise. 

These are unquestionably two great principles in the hu- 
man constitution, and unless it can be shown that they are 
inconsistent with wisdom and goodness in the Deity, all ob- 
jections against those attributes must be dissipated like smoke 
before the wind. The first of those principles accounts for 
the moral evil in the world ; and the second throws light on 
the natural evils to which we are exposed, in cases which re- 
main unexplained by the first. 

In the course of this discussion, it must still be remem- 
bered that we are not to conceive of the Diety as a being of 



146 MORAL EVIL. 

blind and indiscriminating benevolence, but as possessing all 
possibh • in the highest degree, and in a state of 

harmonious combination. He is not good only, but wise, and 
just, and faithful, and holy ; and all those attributes act con- 
sistently with each other. We are also to remember that the 
evils in the world are comparatively rare and partial occur- 
rences, spread over a lar<re surface; sufficient to stimulate 
activity and encourage virtue, but, unless prodigiously in- 
creased by the abuse of free agency, are by no means so great 
or so numerous as to overwhelm our faculties or destroy our 
happiness. True, indeed, were we to collect all the variety 
of wickedness, suffering, and distress, from every period of 
time, and from every place in the world, and to present it in 
one unmingled assemblage, it would exhibit a fearful aggre- 
gate. But this aggregate would not be a picture of human 
life. It would not. be a fair picture of the earth to heap to- 
gether all the volcanoes, naked rocks, sandy deserts, thorns, 
and briers, which occur on its surface. It would not be a fair 
representation of the animal world, to crowd together into 
one horrid spot all the serpents, and scorpions, and lions, and 
tigers of the earth. This were to collect in one point, and 
without mixture, what in nature is spread over a vast surface, 
and interspersed with large scenes of beauty, and copious 
sources of enjoyment. It were to represent what is uncom- 
mon and extraordinary, as if it were the universal state of 
the earth, and the common lot of man. It were like describ- 
ing the sun as a mass of darkness, because black spots are 
at times discernible on its disk. 

The evils that are in the world, in many instances, serve 
as the seasonings of life. They not only give a relish to its en- 
joyments, but they also promote the developement of our facul- 
ties and the improvement of our virtues. And it is evident 
that, amidst all the vicissitudes of this chequered scene, man 
is more commonly in health than in sickness, his countenance 
is much more frequently enlightened by joy than clouded by 
sorrow. 

II. MORAL EVIL. 

The human body is a noble structure, indicating consum- 
mate wisdom and great goodness in the Architect; and it is 
a suitable temple for the residence of the mind. It is a ma- 
terial fabric, and consequently subject to the laws by which 
the material world is governed. 

The mind, whether we contemplate it in a moral or intel- 
lectual point of view, is endued with high capacities. The 



MORAL EVIL. 147 

understanding is susceptible of great improvement, and capa- 
ble of splendid attainments. Complaints, however, against 
the moral constitution of our nature and the evils thence 
resulting, have been loud, by those who wish to devolve upon 
the Author of our being the blame of our own misconduct. 
But whatever may be the cavils of the querimonious sophist, 
we are not cast as a wreck upon the moral ocean, without a 
pilot or a helm. Our Creator has graciously bestowed upon 
us a moral nature. He has with his own finger written the 
law of virtue upon our heart. Reason and conscience point 
out the path of duty and happiness; and they applaud and 
encourage us when we do well, and disapprove and censure 
us when we disobey their intimations. When we pursue an 
upright course, we feel complacency and elevation of soul 
arising from the approbation of our own mind. When con- 
science condemns us we stand degraded in our own esti- 
mation. 

All men commend the good and the virtuous. A pious, 
benevolent, equitable, industrious, temperate, and prudent 
person meets with general approbation, while one of a con- 
trary character is as generally blamed. Besides, the consti- 
tution of the natural world supports our moral perceptions 
and judgments, tending to confer bodily health and a compe- 
tency of the good things of life upon the virtuous man; 
while, from the moral constitution of our nature, he also en- 
joys peace of mind, and the respect and good will of his fel- 
low men. It is a law in the natural world that bodies tend 
towards the centre. It is, in like manner, a law in the moral 
world that virtue promotes happiness, and that vice is the 
parent of misery. If we were capable of taking a full and com- 
prehensive survey of the government of the world, in all its 
bearings and relations, we would perceive that virtue as cer- 
tainly tends to our welfare, as the fruits of the earth to our 
physical comfort. According, then, to the moral and natural 
system of the world, the path of virtue is the road to happi- 
ness : the way of vice, how gay soever may be its decora- 
tions, conducts to the region of sorrow. 

In opposition to what has now been said, it may be alleged 
than men differ in their moral perceptions and estimates ; that 
what one people reckons blameless or praiseworthy is con- 
demned by another; and that the inhabitants of one country 
esteem honourable what in a different nation is thought de- 
grading: that the Chinese expose their infants, and Indians 
knock their aged parents on the head, or leave them to starve 
in the wilderness ; that a Georgian boasts of the number of 



148 MORAL EVIL. 

public executioners that have been in his family, while in 
Iceland no person can be found to inflict a capital punish- 
ment.* 

To this we reply, that our moral powers as well as our 
other faculties may be misled and perverted. They are fitted 
to each other, and are equally susceptible of improvement or 
deterioration. Education, fashion, and habit, have a vast 
influence on our intellectual operations ; and exercise a pow- 
erful sway over our moral judgments. 13ut this does not dis- 
prove the moral constitution of man, nor establish any origi- 
nal difference of moral sentiment among different families of 
the human race, any more than an artificial difference in the 
figure of some parts of the body proves a different organiza- 
tion. On viewing the distorted cranium of some trihes of 
American Indians, or the small feet of the females in the 
Chinese empire, shall we maintain that nature has assigned 
no particular shape or size to the human head and feet 1 Be- 
cause different nations entertain different opinions concerning 
the figure of the earth, or the motions of the solar system, 
shall we argue that reason is essentially different in the 
inhabitants of different nations, or that the figure of the earth, 
and the motions of the solar system, are merely ideal, and 
have no real existence 1 In like manner, on witnessing a 
difference of moral sentiment, shall we imagine that the 
Creator has bestowed no moral nature on man, or that there 
is an original difference in the moral constitution of human 
beings 1 "No : both in the one case and in the other the pecu- 
liarity is a perversion. It is the triumph of bad education 
and vicious fashion over the appointment of the Creator. It 
is a deviation from the common character of the race, and has 
arisen from some particular combination of circumstances. 
And were we thoroughly acquainted with the peculiar cir- 
cumstances of those nations among whom any singular moral 
perversity prevails, we would likely be able, in those circum- 
stances, to trace the causes of the aberration. False moral 
judgments need not surprise us more than any other intellec- 
tual aberration. 

While the law of virtue is engraved on our hearts we are 
not compelled to obey it. Obedience is encouraged by many 
powerful motives, but it is not enforced by a mechanical or 
irresistible impulse. We are free agents ; and beings of this 



* Tourncfort, Voyage an Levant, torn. ii. p. 210. Mackenzie's 
Travels in [celand. ' 



MORAL EVIL. 149 

description, although formed with an original bias towards 
rectitude, may abuse their liberty. If it be consistent with 
the attributes of Deity to create free agents and to exercise a 
moral government over them, then neither the abuse of free 
agency nor the consequent suffering constitutes any objection 
against the Creator: blame attaches to the creature only. 

On this subject, nothing comes fairly under discussion but 
the original constitution of the agent, and the circumstances 
in which he is placed. Now, the moral faculties of man are 
well adapted to his condition. They may yield to the tempta- 
tions by which they are assailed ; but are strong enough to 
repel those temptations, if we choose wisely to exercise them. 
Where there is no risk of failure, there is no honour in suc- 
cess : if our moral faculties had been so vigorous and active 
as to impel us in the right path, without any hazard of devia- 
tion, there would have been no value in moral rectitude. 
Such a constitution would not have been adapted to a state 
where the agents are to rise towards perfection, triumph, and 
safety, by steady perseverance and vigorous exertion in a 
scene of discipline, difficulty, and trial. 

As free agents may abuse their liberty, so, after moral evil 
is once introduced, it is continued and fostered by bad educa- 
tion, false maxims, and vicious example. Our Creator has 
endued us with noble capacities ; but the evolution of those 
capacities and their particular direction are left to ourselves. 
By persevering discipline we can render the body capable of 
surprising operations, as is evident in the feats of the juggler, 
rope-dancer, and tumbler. The mind is still more completely 
subject to our dominion, and we may stamp upon it what im- 
pressions soever we please, almost with as much certainty as 
the Indian, by compression, gives to the head of his infant 
the shape which the fashion of his tribe dictates. Whether 
the moral germ, planted in our mind by the finger of the Cre- 
ator, shall become a lovely plant, or a crooked and stunted 
shrub, depends on ourselves. We are empowered to be the 
architects of our character, and the authors of our destiny. 

By education and discipline we can form any particular 
temper, and give the empire of our mind to what dispositions 
soever we please. If we propose to ourselves a standard of 
conduct, we can regulate our actions by it. I do not mean to 
say that we can instantaneously form our temper and conduct 
according to a given model ; but we can do so by degrees, 
particularly if the attempt be made in early years. Practice 
is the parent of habit. We cannot all at once become profi- 
cients in any bodily exercise or mechanical art. We cannot 
13* 



150 MORAL EVIL. 

on a sudden give our mind the vigour requisite in order to 
high intellectual attainments, nor at once make ourselves 
masters of any particular science. But we can do so gradu- 
allv, by exertion and persevering diligence. In the sams 
way we ran form our temper, discipline our affections and 
passions, and learn to regulate our conduct. If, with the pro- 
posed model always present to our imagination, we employ 
the same vigilant attention and persevering industry, we will 
be as successful in the one case as in the other. If a whole 
community combine their efforts in the same way, and emu- 
lously press towards the same point, the imitative propensi- 
ties of our nature will greatly facilitate the process. 

Nations are often distinguished by a peculiar character, 
which may be owing in some measure to external circum- 
stances ; hut which is formed chiefly by education, fashion, 
and habit. A Turk and a Greek, born in the same climate, 
and inhabiting the same country, are very unlike in charac- 
ter. The Turk is grave and silent; the Greek volatile and 
talkative. Is not this difference entirely owing to education 
and habit? What a difference is there between the American 
Indian chanting his death-song and setting the cruelty of his 
enemies at defiance, and Patkul on the wheel ! Is not the 
sensibility of the Indian as great, and his sufferings as acute 
as those of any other person in similar circumstances? Edu- 
cation, sentiment, and habit, however, have fortified his mind 
against the sense of pain, and the fear of death. 

That there is some original and inexplicable difference of 
constitution and temper, as well as of talents, among human 
beings, maybe admitted. But, generally speaking, what is 
called natural temper is merely, 1 apprehend, a certain state 
of mind which indulgence has formed into habit. If we have 
a bad temper, it is because we have not been duly careful to 
form a good one. If unworthy passions predominate in our 
minds, it is because we have cherished them. If our conduct 
be incorrect, it is because we are not attentive in regulating 
it. When temper is very bad, all men condemn it. When 
actions proceed to a certain degree of enormity, human laws 
punish them. This condemnation and punishment show that, 
according to the general conviction of mankind, the temper 
might have been better, and the conduct refrained from ; for 
otherwise, neither blame nor punishment could with pro- 
priety follow. It may be pleaded, perhaps, that the passions 
gain strength sooner than reason, and that the character is in 
a great measure formed before the understanding is sufficiently 
matured to take any important part in the operation. But if 



MORAL EVIL. 151 

reason be cherished as much as passion, their growth is more 
simultaneous than is commonly imagined. At any rate, 
reason, on attaining maturity, can correct temper, subdue pas- 
sion, and regulate conduct. 

Socrates was the most illustrious moral sage of the ancient 
heathen world. Zopyrus, an eminent physiognomist, on ex- 
amining the countenance of the philosopher, pronounced him 
the slave of vicious passions. The friends of Socrates ridi- 
culed the pretended skill of Zopyrus: but the son of Sophro- 
niscus, with that candour and ingenuousness which formed 
such a prominent feature in his character, acknowledged that in 
his early disposition he was prone to vice; but that, by obey- 
ing the dictates of reason with persevering attention and ex- 
ertion, he had overcome the worthless propensities which had 
once predominated in his mind, and given a cast to the linea- 
ments of his countenance. Are we to neglect education, to 
cherish a bad temper and unworthy affections, to contract bad 
habits, and to persist in them, and then impute to our Crea- 
tor the blame of our own misconduct 1 God has made us 
free agents; but at the same time he has endued us with 
reason and conscience for the government of our hearts and 
lives, so that the blame is entirely our own if we abandon the 
path of rectitude. 

Besides, our Creator does not permit us to disobey the 
voice of reason and of conscience with impunity. His go- 
vernment is so constituted that the abuse of free agency is 
checked not only by our moral nature, but by the natural evil 
which it introduces or increases. The waters of the ocean, 
although containing many corrupting substances, are pre- 
served from putrefaction. The contamination of the atmo- 
sphere by respiration and other causes, is not allowed to go 
on continually increasing: principles of counteraction and 
compensation are in continual activity. As it is in the natu- 
ral, so it is in the moral world. The abuse of free agency is 
subject to checks, and is not permitted to exceed certain limits. 
Our moral faculties oppose its progress ; and if this opposi- 
tion be borne down, an insuperable barrier at length presents 
itself in the accumulation of natural evil. Thus, by the con- 
stitution of nature, moral evil, after proceeding to a certain 
extent, is made in some measure to cure itself. When hu- 
man affairs reach a certain point of perturbation, then, like 
the inequalities in the planetary system, they gradually return 
to the point from which they set off. They vibrate within 
certain limits. The accumulation of moral evil is wrought off 
like a scum from fermenting liquors. In the natural world the 



152 MORAL EVIL. 

tempest is a powerful means of purifying the atmosphere; an 
analogous scene presents itself to our view in the moral world. 

The sufferings which result from the abuse of free agency 
are employ i d, by the wisdom and goodness of the Creator, 
not onl\ f correcting our errors, but also of exer- 

cising our virtues, strengthening our faculties, and improving 
ire. Suffering has a tendency to awaken our moral 
sensibilities, and to make us reflect seriously on our actions. 
If it be the means of bringing us to a due perception of our 
folly and guilt, of reclaiming us from error, and of leading us 
of our freedom, we will again'taste the sweets 
of virtue, and rejoice under the administration of a wise and 
benevolent Parent. 

Suffering, in consequence of perverse affections and vicious 
conduct, may be considered as the kind castigation of a wise 
and affectionate Father to bring back his erring children to 
the path of duty and of happiness. In this point of view, the 
sufferings of moral agents are evidently consistent with the 
perfections and government of an infinitely wise and good 
Being. Indeed, in a great system of moral agency, the ab- 
sence of suffering, except in cases where the agents have 
passed victoriously through a state of trial, and by means of 
instruction, discipline, and practice are confirmed in the habits 
of virtue, would constitute a more formidable objection against 
the perfections and government of God, than any that the 
atheist has been able to adduce. The parent who never 
chides or chastises, neglects the interest of" his erring child ; 
and were the universal parent never to inflict chastisement 
upon the disobedient, this would furnish a presumption that 
he looked with an indifferent eye on the conduct of his ra- 
tional offspring, and was careless about their mora! improve- 
ment. But he takes a lively interest in the welfare of his 
children, and, by wise instruction and salutary discipline, re- 
strains their wanderings, corrects their errors, encourages, 
exercises, and improves their virtues, and prepares them for 
a more exalted stage of existence ; for associating with the 
numerous and chosen society of those who, having passed 
triumphantly through a course of trial, are confirmed in virtue, 
and far advanced in the perfection of their nature. 

We often suffer from the abuse of free agency in others. 
Discord in families ; jealousies, calumnies, envy, hatred, and 
mutual injuries among neighbours; and wars between nations, 
occasion the greater part of human misery, and may frequent* 
ly involve us in trouble without any fault of our own. In 
to this objection, we observe that the moral, as well 



MORAL EVIL. 153 

as the natural world, is governed by general laws ; and 
free agency can be limited only by the nature and abilities 
of the agents, subject to the counteraction of one another. In 
a great scheme of free agency, as in our world, the agents 
mutually operate upon, encourage, and aid, or oppose, check, 
and restrain each other. Restraints by special interpositions 
of Deity are as inadmissible here as in the general laws of 
the natural world, and would produce similar injurious effects. 
No restraints can be imposed upon the agents, but such as 
arise from their physical and intellectual capacities, and the 
.circumstances in which they are placed. It is the interest of 
all to regulate, direct, and keep within due bounds the free 
agency of all ; and to this common interest, in connexion with 
our moral nature, the matter is left. I cannot conceive how 
it could be otherwise without the destruction of free agency. 

" What, in the name of wonder," exclaims one, " can be 
the final cause of cruelty, slaughter, and devastation 1 Why 
should we be both able and willing to pervert the benevolent 
purposes of nature 1 ?"* Might he not with equal propriety 
have asked, what is the final cause of tying, slander, theft, 
or any other action which proceeds from the abuse of free 
agency"? Ought he not rather to have asked, what is the final 
cause of our being made free agents, creatures endued with 
freedom of will and liberty of choice, and not mere machines 1 
For this is the point on which his questions ultimately bear. 
War, with its frightful concomitants, is a dreadful abuse 
of free agency, and ought not to be held up as a stain on the 
perfections or government of God, but as a melancholy in- 
stance of human perversity. If many suffer by war, many 
are guilty by aiding and abetting, or not opposing and coun- 
teracting that profligacy by which it is begun and carried on. 
Some, indeed, talk of wars as necessary, and seem to place 
them by the side of the volcano and the hurricane. But it is 
a monstrous absurdity to confound the guilt of the creature 
with the wise and gracious appointments of the Creator. 
Shall we vindicate murder by the plea that man is born to die, 
or defend the conduct of the incendiary because lightning 
sometimes sets our property on fire 1 ? 

If, under the operation of general laws, we suffer from the 
abuse of free agency in others, without any fault of our own, 
this suffering exercises and improves our faculties, and gives 
scope for the developement of virtuous dispositions and affec- 



Smellie, Philosophy of Natural History, 



154 MORAL EVIL. 

tions which otherwise would have lain dormant. If we meet 
with no rude treatment, we have no occasion for meekness 
and forbearance. Without injuries we have no room for the 
exercise of forgiveness. The sufferings which we endure 
from the misconduct of others, if we behave well under them, 
do not roh us of the approbation of our own mind, and conse- 
quently cannot deprive us of happiness. Our bearing them 
well, and our passing through the uncertainties, dangi 
trials of the presenl state with prudence and fortitude, are 
means for training us up in a meetness for a more excellent 
being. 

Bad education, corrupt maxims, and vicious example have 
a powerful and unhappy influence on human opinions and 
conduct. Bad government combines and aggravates all these 
causes of wickedness and misery, and has certainly been an 
abundant source of tribulation among men. These are ad- 
versaries with which we must strive in the moral course ; ene- 
mies which we must combat and overcome in our moral war- 
fare. And in order to success in the race and in the battle, 
it behoves us to use all the means in our power for the illu- 
mination of our understandings and regulation of our hearts ; 
to form correct notions of duty and happiness ; to cherish vir- 
tue in our minds, and with indexible constancy to practise it 
in our lives. 

The existence of moral evil forms no solid objection against 
the divine wisdom and goodness. It is not so predominant 
in the world as some gloom}'- theorists have represented; and 
with respect to that portion of it which really occurs, we can 
vindicate the perfections of Deity from every imputation. We 
are free agents, a condition necessary to moral government, 
virtue and vice, reward and punishment. We are endued 
with reason and conscience for the regulation of our conduct. 
Our temper and character are of our own formation. Our ac- 
tions flow from our own free choice. If we follow a right 
course we enjoy much happiness. If we act other 
have ourselves to blame for the consequences; nay. the suf- 
fering which ensues is a kind warning that wc have erred. 
The evils which we suffer from the misconduct of others, 
without any fault of our own, while they leave us in the full 
possession of the approbation of our own mind, give room for 
the improvement of our intellectual and moral nature. In the 
moral as in the natural world, partial evil is made subservi- 
ent to general good. 



NATURAL EVIL. 155 

III. NATURAL EVIL. 

Having considered moral evil, we shall now turn our at- 
tention to natural evil ; and shall arrange our thoughts on 
this part of the subject under the following heads : 

1. The physical constitution of the earth, and the quality 
of some of its productions. 

2. The nature of some of the inferior animals. 

3. The pains and sorrows to which man is unavoidably ex- 
posed from his very constitution, and the circumstances in 
which he is placed. 

These topics open a large field, and will give room for a va- 
riety of observations. But before entering upon these things 
we shall take notice of a principle of our nature, which has 
been already briefly mentioned, but which deserves a more 
particular attention; namely, its progressive capacity, together 
with the means by which, according to the constitution of 
things, that capacity is operated upon and unfolded. This 
seems to be a matter of considerable importance on the sub- 
ject under discussion, and 1 shall, therefore, illustrste it at 
some length. 

Every creature must be finite, and what is finite is suscepti- 
ble of melioration. At what point soever in the scale of 
intellect any created being appears, there is room for progres- 
sive improvement. The being may advance from a lower to a 
higher degree of excellence. A progressive is nobler than a 
stationary creature. The latter, if any such exist in the ra- 
tional universe, whatever may be his place in the scale, may 
ultimately be greatly surpassed by one who started from a 
much lower point, but who is endued with a progressive na- 
ture. The progressive principle pervades the system of the 
world. The early dawn gradually ushers in the morning 
light, which shines clearer and clearer till the meridian sun 
heam upon the earth. The seed germinates, and, by a gradual 
progress, the plant attains maturity. The noble oak springs 
from the humble acorn ; but it must bear the chilling blast of 
many a winter before it lift its head with majestic grandeur 
among the trees of the forest. 

Animals of all kinds advance, some more rapidly, some 
more slowly, towards the perfection of their nature. The pro- 
gress is still going on, although imperceptibly. The plant 
or the animal grows ; but we cannot at any given moment 
discern its growth, and point out the increase it has received 
since the moment immediately preceding. This gradual and 
imperceptible progress takes place not only in plants andani- 



156 NATURAL EVIL. 

mals, but also in the rational nature of man, the only intelli- 
gence that tails under our observation. Every step in the pro- 
gress prepares the way for that which is to follow. \\ e have 
on to complain that we are children before we arc men, 
f - or th e , s ur boyish years are needful to lit us for 

the duties of maturer life ; and we have good reason to con- 
clude, that the dispositions and habits formed and cherished 
by the active and virtuous discharge of the duties of the pre- 
sent life, educate and prepare us for entering into the enjoy- 
a higher state of existence. 
Our being endued with a capacity of progressive improve- 
ment is of itself a strong presumption of goodness in the Deity. 
If the means provided in nature for unfolding this capacity 
answer the end, God must be wise : in so far as we have 
pleasure in the use of these means, it demonstrates that he 
is benevolent. Now, we contend, that the means are ade- 
quate to the end, and, generally speaking, we have pleasure 
in the use of the means; consequently God is both wise and 
good. Even in those instances where we have no immedi- 
ate pleasure in the means, nay even where they give us pain, 
there is no proof of malevolence, because even these painful 
means are excitements to improvement and consequent happi- 
ness. They are often occasioned by our having been careless 
of the means of improvement. The schoolboy may dislike 
the discipline by which he is urged to his task ; but if the 
ambition of excellence, and the hope of reward do not spur 
him on, the lash must he applied. This, however, is no proof 
of malevolence in the teacher. We are impelled to the means 
of improvement by reward and punishment ; happy when we 
use, unhappy when we neglect them. 

The means provided in nature for the expansion of our ca- 
pacities, both of body and mind, are adequate to the end. 
Exercise is the chief means of our improvement. It braces 
and invigorates the body ; it unfolds and strengthens the pow- 
ers of the mind : and to exercise we are prompted both by the 
constitution of our nature, and the circumstances m which 
xv, . are placed. Like .Sisyphus, we must roll our stone; but 
we dp not, like Sisyphus, roll it in vain. By every wise and 
vigorous exertion we rise in excellence, and never lose 
ground but by folly, carelessness, or sloth. Within certain 
limits, the vigour of our faculties increases in proportion to 
the employment which we give them. 

Bodily exertion renders the whole frame active, robust and 
hardy ; and any particular member of the body or organ ot 
sense, that is much employed, acquires a corresponding de- 



NATURAL EVIL. 157 

gree of strength and dexterity in the peculiar manner of its 
application. Those persons who hear on their hacks the pro- 
duce of the Mexican mines exhibit a robust appearance. The 
diminutive Bosjesman bounds over the mountains with the 
agility of a roe. The American savage discerns the footsteps 
of his friend or of his enemy, where a European eye does not 
perceive any vestige. The mariner descries a ship at sea, 
where a strang-er to maritime life cannot behold a speck in 
the distant horizon. The Bedouin Arab who, after sweeping 
the view with his eye, alights from his horse and applies his 
ear to the ground, listening for the tread of the distant travel- 
ler of the desert, catches the sound which entirely escapes one 
unpractised in his manner of life. A blind person has heen 
seen to walk the streets of a town, and turn every corner with 
the utmost precision ; and in some blind persons, the sense 
of feeling has become so delicate as to enable them to distin- 
guish cloths of different colours, and even in cloth of mixed 
colours to ascertain the particulars. The senses of smell and 
taste are equally susceptible of improvement. 

Practice is the parent of dexterity in any manual operation, 
as is evident in all the mechanical arts. It likewise improves 
skill in the conduct of any difficult enterprise. An American 
Indian will safely shoot a rapid in his canoe, or steer his frail 
bark in the tempestuous ocean, where the most experienced 
European seaman would perish. As the body is braced by 
labour, the organs of sense meliorated by careful application, 
and manual dexterity acquired by practice, so the mind is im- 
proved and strengthened by the exercise of its faculties. In- 
genuity is sharpened by the occasions which call it forth. By 
being brought into action, our mental powers acquire an in- 
crease of strength and modification of habit. Ever)' faculty, 
judgment, memory, or imagination, is improved, according- to 
the exercise which we give it. The tool with which I per- 
form any manual labour wears away in the operation. The 
axe and the saw become blunt; and, by frequent attrition the 
substance of the ploughshare and of the spade is g'radually 
diminished ; but the hand of the labourer hardens, and accom- 
modates itself to his work, while his arm waxes stronger by 
employment. The mind, if allowed to slumber in drowsy in- 
dolence, becomes feeble and palsied ; but call it into action, 
and its dormant powers are awakened. When employed on 
external objects, it operates beneficially on itself, for its capa- 
cities expand ; and, like a plant under the genial influence cf 
the solar beam, all its powers are unfolded. Both body and 
mind bear a resemblance to the magnet, which, by gradual 
14 



158 NATCRAL EVIL. 

additions, may be made to bear a weight which, at first, it 
was utterlv incapable of supporting. 

All our pleasures have a close connection with the exercise 
of our bodily and mental powers; and one outward situation 
is more favourable to happiness than another, only in propor- 
tion as it gives opportunities for a more varied and uncon- 
strained exertion of them. The love of exercise plainly ap- 
pears in the inferior animals. Lambs runningand gambflJisg 
round a hillock ; horses scouring the plain ; dogs keenly pur- 
suing each other ; and even the timid hares sporting together, 
are proofs that the felicity of the animated being does not 
consist in motionless repose and inactive gratification. \\ e 
see children actively employed in their amusements. They 
delight in the exercise of their limbs; and that exercise pre- 
serves their health and promotes their growth. Happiness 
is not found on a bed of down, nor in a state of listless sloth 
and luxurious gratification. Cheerless languor, lingering dis- 
ease, and early death, are the common lot of wealthy indo- 
lence. But the person who labours diligently for his daily 
bread, is in general healthy, cheerful, and contented. 

It i's a common law of our nature, that what costs little ex- 
ertion imparts little pleasure ; what is obtained without la- 
bour or expense is possessed without enjoyment. He who 
trains a fortune by his own industry, feels a relish m the pos- 
session of it, to which he who succeeds to a similar fortune, 
without toil, is a stranger. Indeed, there is often more plea- 
sure in pursuit than in possession, in hope than in enjoyment, 
in toil than in reward. Many things are valued chiefly on 
account of the pleasure which the pursuit affords. Game is 
hunted not so much for its intrinsic worth as for the gratifica- 
tion of the chase. . 

The mind of man has no pleasure in unvarying rest. Its 
enjoyment springs from action. Hence men in every rank, 
arid in every stage of society, devise employment for them- 
selves, if it be not imposed upon them by necessity. The 
South Sea islander exercises and amuses himself by spomi.g 
amoncr the breakers like a walrus. The North American In- 
dians in the vicinity of the Athapuscow and Slave lakes, 
instead of enjoying all that rest and ease of which their cir- 
cumstances admit, court exercise and employment at the ex- 
pense of severe privation and great danger. They can easily 
find a plentiful subsistence for their families during winter, 
bv catchincr deer in a pound; but only the aged and mhrm, 
the women and children, and a few of the more indolent and 
unambitious, will submit to remain in the parts where tood 



NATURAL EVIL. 159 

and clothing' can be so easily procured. To this they prefer 
the uncertainty, fatigue, privations, and dangers of the chase, 
and of a wandering- life. "In my opinion," says the hardy 
traveller who states the fact, " there cannot exist a stronger 
proof that man was not created to enjoy happiness in this 
world, than the conduct of those miserable beings who inha- 
bit this wretched part of it." Here we have an example of 
the incorrect thinking, not unfrequentty entertained by per- 
sons whose lives are more devoted to action than contempla- 
tion; for the opinion rests on the supposition, that happiness 
consists in undisturbed repose, and in the enjoyment of unso- 
licited abundance. But in a state of unvarying ease and spon- 
taneous plenty it does not consist : it is in earnest pursuit 
and vigorous exertion that the energies of the human being- 
are unfolded; and in them is his happiness obtained. The 
hunter is pursuing and enjoying pleasure amidst the fatigues 
of the chase and the perils of the wilderness. 

In civilized society, the opulent, who are under no neces- 
sity of earning their means of subsistence by daily exertion, 
find employment for themselves by engaging in play, in 
hunting, or in other similar occupations. The man of science 
and liberal curiosity renounces literary ease and domestic 
comfort, traverses the globe, mingles with savage tribes, 
ascends the Alps or the Andes, encounters the cold and 
storms of polar regions, or visits the crater of J^tna or Hecla. 
Our most exalted pleasures flow from successful exertions of 
intellect. What sensual gratification deserves for a moment 
to be compared with the joy of Pythagoras, on discovering 
that the square of the hypothenuse is equal to the squares of 
the other two sides of the right angled triangle; with the 
transport of Archimedes, when he sprung out of the bath, 
exclaiming, " I have found it!" on discovering a method by 
which he could ascertain the quantity of silver which a gold- 
smith had put into Hiero's crown; or with the ecstasy of 
Franklin, when he perceived the fibres of the cord attached to 
his kite exhibiting signs of electricity'? These are the most 
sublime enjoyments of which man in his present state is sus- 
ceptible ; and all these advantages, which we gain by skill, 
industry, and virtue, give us high pleasure on reflection. 
Thus, exercise is the chief means of our improvement and 
happiness ; and to exercise we are impelled not only by the 
constitution of our nature, but also by the circumstances in 
which we are placed. Our constitution and circumstances 
are as much adapted to each other as the wing of the bird 
and the atmosphere: the gills of the fish and water. Here 



160 NATURAL EVIL. 

we have a striking instance of that relation of one thing to 
another which pervades the universe, and which demonstrates 
unity of plan, and skilful contrivance in its formation. 

Had we been set down in a situation where every want 
was at once supplied, every wish and desire gratified with- 
out difficulty or delay, and where there Avas no room for in- 
genious contrivance and active exertion ; we would have been 
the miserable victims of languor and satiety. Without some- 
thing to awaken fear, encourage hope, and stimulate activity, 
life stagnates in supid torpitude and melancholy indolence. 
But nature around us is admirably fitted to rouse activity, en- 
courage ingenuity, and reward industrious exertion. Every- 
thing conspires to animate our diligence, to improve our 
talents, and to promote our happiness. The earth is wisely 
accommodated to our active and intelligent nature, for its 
bowels as well as its surface administer to our comfort ; and 
every part of nature around us may be made to increase and 
diversify our enjoyments, according to our circumstances and 
taste. 

There is no danger that the means of employing either our 
bodily or intellectual powers will ever be exhausted. To 
cultivate the earth, drain the marsh, straighten the water- 
course, and embank the river; to form roads and bridges, and 
to carry on the various branches of manufacture and com- 
merce, will still furnish abundant scope for human industry. 
There will also be an ample field for the operations of intel- 
lect in the progress of science ; for although our present at- 
tainments are great, yet the next generation will find enough 
to exercise their ingenuity. Every step we advance in know- 
ledge enlarges our views, and opens new subjects of investi- 
gation and discovery. It is like travelling in a winding and 
interminable valley, bounded on each side by woods and 
mountains. At each bend, where we expected to find its 
termination, we perceive that the scene is only varied, and 
new prospects disclosed to our view. Notwithstanding all 
the industry, skill, and discoveries of Daw, there still re- 
mains abundance of room for labourers in the same field; to 
trace matter to its elementary forms, and through its various 
combinations. Newton improved on the discoveries of Kep- 
ler and Galileo. La Place has executed what Newton left 
undone ; but there is still room for adding to the sublime disco- 
veries of La Grange and La Place. The intellectual hero will 
never need to sit down and weep because he has conquered 
the world of science, and exhausted the mines of discovery. 
To a person of determined and persevering industry, to whom 



NATURAL EVIL. 161 

no labour is irksome, and no difficult)' appears insurmounta- 
ble; to him no enterprise is too great, and no attainment 
hopeless: no department in science, and no discovery in na- 
ture is above his reach. 

We may farther remark, that employment is an advantage 
to our moral as well as to our intellectual nature. It is a 
powerful preventive of temptation, for he who has nothing to 
do has much need to be confirmed in virtue. Such then is 
our active nature, and such the circumstances in which we 
are placed. In so far as these circumstances are fitted to 
exercise and develope our powers, they may fairly be adduced 
as evidences of wisdom; and if we have enjoyment in the 
exercises to which our nature and circumstances prompt us, 
the Author of the system must be benevolent. 

I now proceed to the consideration of natural evil, under 
the several heads already mentioned : namely, the physical 
constitution of the earth ; the nature of some of the inferior 
animals ; and the pains and sorrows to which man is liable. 

1. The physical constitution of the earth. 

Seme have objected to the general appearance of the earth, 
representing it as a shapeless mass without order or beauty ; 
inundated by the ocean, disfigured by ragged promontories 
and irregular indentations ; the dry land deformed by moun- 
tains and morasses; occupied by lakes or deserts; yielding 
poisonous plants and minerals ; in one quarter parched by the 
beams of a vertical sun, and in another bound up in chains of 
everlasting ice. Such representations, at first sight, have an 
imposing appearance, and, when expressed in pompous lan- 
guage, may please the ear, and have no small tendency to 
mislead the imagination. But, on a closer inspection, those 
apparently mighty difficulties in a great measure disappear; 
and the due consideration of them teaches us a lesson of cau- 
tion and humility when examining the works of the Almighty. 
It teaches us not to be hasty in supposing that improvement 
would follow a change in any of the great conditions of na- 
ture; for such a change, it is likely, instead of improving the 
world, would break the harmony of its parts, and destroy the 
symmetry and use of the whole. 

That the earth bears marks of having undergone some great 
convulsion is not denied : but we do not admit that from this 
any inference can be drawn against the perfections or govern- 
ment of Deity ; for the earth, as it presently appears, is a con- 
venient habitation for man and for the inferior animals. These 
animals all find subsistence. With respect to man every- 
thing around him is fitted for supplying his wants and for 
14* 



162 NATURAL EVIL. 

promoting his enjoyments, by calling forth his activity and 
by giving scope to his exertions. Everything is adapted to 
his physical and intellectual constitution; and is suited to 
his health, to brace his body, and to invigorate his 
mind. . . 

The o-reat extent of the ocean, in the estimation of some 
persons" is a mark of imperfection. And on this subject let 
us Listen to the complaints of the atheist, and call in his wis- 
dom to remedy the evil. Lei us empower him to dry up the 
waters, and to reveal the deep channels of the ocean ; yea, it 
he will, to elevate the bottom of the sea to a level with the 
adjacent land, and to give the earth the exact convexity of an 
artificial globe. He has remedied what he thought a defect ; 
he has introduced beauty where, in his imagination, deformity 
prevailed. What is the effect of his supposed improvement? 
By one great operation he has destroyed a vast number and 
variety of sentient beings, which dwelt in the ocean and en- 
jo)-ed*happiness. He has also laid the sure foundation for 
the speedy extinction of animal and vegetable existence ; for 
if there be no ocean, the sun will exhale no vapours; no 
clouds will float on the atmosphere, and neither dew nor rain 
will descend on the earth. But if there be no dew and no 
rain, where shall we find the aliment of vegetation ; the mur- 
muring brook and the majestic river] Experience teaches 
us that without springs and rivers there is no fertility; and, 
consequently, without them man and beast must expire, and 
lifeless stillness and sterility take possession of the vast de- 
sert. Such are the effects of atheistical wisdom and im- 
provement. Before any complain of the extent of the ocean 
on the terraqueous globe, let them show that a less surface of 
water would equally well answer all the purpose served by 
the sea. This, we may without hesitation affirm, they can 
never do. We may, therefore, dismiss their complaints on 
this subject, as the offspring of ignorance and folly. 

The ocean is a vast field of enjoyment to sentient beings, 
and it yields inexhaustible treasures to the human race. If 
we look to the two extremities of the American continent, we 
see, at the one, the wandering savage of Terra del Fuegodc- 
vourino- fish; and, at the other, the Esquimaux spearing sal- 
mon in the Copper -Mine River. Although many of the hu- 
man race draw a considerable portion of their subsistence 
from the deep, yet this great storehouse has, perhaps, never 
Hitherto been turned to the best account by civilized nations. 
The sea also facilitates the intercourse of nations, and har- 
monizes with the whole system of nature, in presenting a 



NATURAL EVIL. 163 

scene fitted to awaken the energy, and to give employment 
to the activity and enterprise of man. 

The ocean is preserved at a moderate temperature hy the 
statical principle by which the heavier columns of a fluid dis- 
place the lighter ; and consequently it tends to modify the 
temperature of the land.* For the temperature of the ocean 
communicates itself to the superincumbent atmosphere on 
every side; and, in this way, the sea cools the land in tro- 
pical climates, and increases the temperature in high latitudes. 
How refreshing is the sea breeze to one panting under a ver- 
tical sun ! And do not the insular inhabitants of high lati- 
tudes enjoy in winter a milder atmosphere than they who 
dwell on great continents under the same parallel 1 

Humboldt has observed, that the interior provinces of 
America, between 30° and 38° north latitude, like the rest 
of North America, have a climate essentially different from 
that of the same parallels on the old continent. A remarkable 
inequality prevails between the temperature of the different 
seasons. German winters succeed to Neapolitan and Sici- 
lian summers. This is no doubt partly owing to the confi- 



* The singularity respecting 1 the freezing- of water may be 
mentioned as a manifestation of the wisdom and goodness of 
Deity. The general law is, that fluids decrease in bulk, as the 
temperature becomes lower. But from this law water is an ex- 
ception. Its greatest density is about 40° Fah. Without the 
knowledge of this fact, we should be disposed to say with Dr. 
Johnson, when speaking- of Loch Ness, that its profundity can 
have little part in its exemption from freezing. But the curious 
anomaly now mentioned explains the matter, and displays the 
wisdom and beneficence of Deity. The water cooled to 40° 
sinks and yields its place to that of a higher temperature; which, 
in its turn, when about 40°, allows warmer water to rise to the 
surface. The whole body of water is cooled to 40°, and then 
that at the top, becoming specifically lighter as it becomes 
colder, remains at the surface and is congealed. The ice is a 
bad conductor of heat; it thus increases slowly, and shelters the 
water below. If the water be deep, the fish under the ice are 
at a temperature not lower than 40°. Were it not this singu- 
larity, the rivers and lakes of high latitudes, in winter, would 
become a solid mass of ice, which the heat of a whole summer 
would scarcely dissolve. The sentient inhabitants of the waters 
would be destroyed. By a departure from a general law these 
effects are prevented, and the wisdom and beneficence of Deity 
manifested. 



164 NATURAL EVIL. 

guration of the land and the course of the mountains ; but a 
grand cadse of it seems to be the breadth of the continent, 
and its prolongation towards the north pole: for great and un- 
broken continents are favourable to the extremes of heat or 
cold, because the surface of the land is heated or cooled 
sooner than the water. This principle may be applied in ex- 
planation of the fact, that in proceeding eastward from the 
shores of the Atlantic, through Europe and the north of Asia, 
the temperature of any parallel of latitude still becomes lower 
as we advance. The ocean then is a great source of animal 
enjoyment. It is of essential importance to our world ; and 
we have no reason to conclude that a less basin of water would 
answer all the purposes in the economy of nature. The deep 
indentations of bays and gulfs are highly useful for commer- 
cial purposes ; and they also contribute to supply the wants 
of man, by bringing the stores of the sea into the bosom of 
the land. 

Some complain that the surface of the earth is broken down 
into many inequalities, rugged mountains, deep valleys, and 
morasses. But this constitution of things, instead of being a 
just ground of complaint, serves many valuable purposes. It 
gives the productions of different climates under the same 
latitude ; furnishes a residence and food for different kinds of 
animated beings ; is a powerful means of clothing the earth 
with beauty and fertility ; and gives scope to the ingenuity 
and exertions of man. In ascending the Andes, for instance, 
at different points above the level of the sea, we meet with 
the productions of equatorial and polar regions, and of all the 
intermediate climates. In Mexico, the same parallel of lati- 
tude produces the banana, the apple, the sugar-cane, wheat, 
the manioc, and potato. There the nutritive gramina, which 
vegetate among the ices of Norway and Siberia, cover the 
fields of the torrid zone. There the oak grows only at an ele- 
vation above the level of the sea of between 2500 and 10,000 
feet : the pine never descends farther down towards the coast 
of Vera Cruz than to about 6000 feet above the level of the 
sea, and is never found higher in the mountains than about 
13,000 feet. The wheat of Europe occupies a belt on the 
declivities of those mountains, between about 4500 and 10,000 
of elevation, the banana tree, the fruit of which constitute so 
much of the food of the inhabitants of many tropical regions, 
scarcely bears any fruit at a higher elevation than 5000 feet 
above the level of the sea. Some plants live only in cold 
and mountainous places ; and it w-ere vain to look for them 
but in regions bordering on everlasting snow. 



NATURAL EVIL. 165 

Although many mountains do not rise to the height of 
those now referred to, yet, in their several degrees, they 
yield nourishment to a proportional diversity of plants. If 
it be alleged that this can hold true of mountains in tropical 
or temperate regions only, it may be remarked that the height 
of mountains diminishes as we advance from the equator to- 
wards the pole. Chimborago, at the equator, is about 20,000 
feet high : the mountains of Iceland, on the confines of the 
Arctic circle, are not above a fourth or fifth part of that 
height. 

The variety of mountains and valleys furnishes different 
kinds of animals with a residence and food suited to their 
natures. The ox delights in the plain, as there he finds the 
food which to him is most palatable. Sheep prefer the naked 
hill, because their beloved festuca grows there. Goats climb 
the precipice to browse on tender shrubs ; and, by their agility 
and the structure of their feet, they are well qualified for 
springing from crag to crag. The argali or wild sheep, and 
some of the deer kind, give the preference to the bare moun- 
tain. In warm climates, high mountains, by means of the 
ice and snow with which they are perpetually clothed, lower 
the temperature of the neighbouring plains. The towering 
Andes cool the contiguous countries, and the mountains of 
Thibet render the spreading plains of Hindostan habitable.* 
Mountains also modify and direct the course of the winds, 
and shelter the low lands from the blast. To mountains the 
plain is indebted for its beauty and fertility. They attract 
the clouds, condense the vapours, are the sources of streams 
and rivers, and convey a fructifying moisture to the valley 
and the plain. 

Ray, in his valuable work on " the Wisdom of God in 
Creation," distinctly states the fact, that more water is ex- 
haled from the sea in vapour than is returned to it in rain ; 
but for the fact he is at a loss to account. " Why," says he, 
" should not the winds carry the vapours that are exhaled out 
of the earth, down to the sea, as well as bring them up upon 
the earth which are raised from the sea ? Or, which is all 
one, why should not the wind blow indifferently from sea 
and land ? To which I answer, that I must needs acknow- 



* Under the equator, the region of perpetual snow com- 
mences at an elevation of 15,750 feet : in 45° N. lat.it com- 
mences at 8350 feet. 



166 NATURAL EVIL. 

ledge myself not to comprehend the reason hereof." In ex- 
planation of the fact, for which this well-informed writer did 
not attempt to account, we may observe, first, that the sur- 
face of the land is more easily heated than the sea, conse- 
quently the wind blows from the sea towards the land to re- 
store the equilibrium, and carries the vapours along- with it: 
secondly, mountains attract the clouds, stop them in their 
course, and make them pour down their contents on the 
earth. These two observations go far to explain the fact that 
rriore rain falls on the dry land than is exhaled from it; and 
they tend to show the utility of mountains. 

If we trace the course of any great river, it conducts us to 
mountains. The Orinoco and the De la Plata lead us to the 
Andes. The Mississippi and the Saint Lawrence have their 
sources in an elevated region; and a mountainous ridge sepa- 
rates the basin of the Columbia from the waters of the Mis- 
souri. The Alps send forth the Danube and the Rhine, the 
Rhone and the Po. The vapours exhaled from the Mediter- 
ranean pass over Egypt almost without dispensing a single 
shower; but the lofty mountains in Abyssinia arrest them in 
their course, and rob them of their treasures. The Nile, 
spreading fertility over its banks, conveys the swelling 
waters to the Mediterranean. Thus the mountains of Abys- 
sinia, lying in about 12° N. latitude, are the means of cloth- 
ing the Thebais and Delta, from 24° to 31°, with beauty and 
abundance. Without the mountains of Abyssinia the valley 
of Egypt would remain an arid and inhospitable desert. We 
mitrht run over the globe, and everywhere we would find 
mountains of essential benefit to the earth. While they at- 
tract the clouds, their structure is such as to retain much of 
their water, and to give it out in perennial streams. 

Mountains contain iron, copper, lead, and many other mi- 
neral substances of indispensable utility to agriculture and 
the arts; and although to some they may appear marks of 
irregularity and deformity, they are nevertheless the perfec- 
tion°of order, and essential to the beauty and fertility of the 
earth. Without them we can have no magnificent or pleas- 
ing scenery. They afford a commodious residence or a safe 
retreat to many of the inferior animals, and they diversify, 
adorn, and enrich the prospect to man. While so extensively 
beneficial, they do not so much affect the sphericity of the 
earth, as a few grains of sand scattered on the surface of an 
eighteen inch globe affect its sphericity. For the diameter 
of°the earth is nearly 8000 miles ; and the top even of Cliim- 



NATURAL EVIL. 167 

boraco, the loftiest peak on our globe, is only about 4 miles 
above the level of the sea.* 

As mountains contribute to the beauty and fertility of the 
earth ; so to drain the morass, and convert the quaggy swamp 
into a beautiful and fertile field, exercises the ingenuity and 
employs the activity of man. The mountain is essential to 
our subsistence ; the marsh contributes to the developement 
of our powers. The materials of subsistence and comfort are 
spread plentifully around us; but they do not drop into the 
lap of drowsy indolence and lumpish inactivity. In order to 
obtain them we must exert our powers both of body and 
mind. We must cultivate the earth, cut down the forest, 
drain the bog, straighten the watercourse, and apply proper 
manure to the soil. By the diligent and skilful exertion of 
our powers and application of our means, we can produce 
mighty changes on everything around us, and make the 
influence of our operations be felt even on those parts of 
nature which, at first sight, seem entirely above our reach. 
We can in some measure disarm the elements of their rigour, 
and improve the climate as well as the soil by cultivation ; 
by draining marsiies and lessening evaporation, which carries 
off a quantity of caloric, and occasions a corresponding de- 
gree of cold ; by turning up the soil and exposing it to the 
rays of the sun; and by thinning and cutting down forests, 
which by their shade exclude the solar beam from the earth. 

The barrenness of many parts of the earth has been the 
theme of discontented declamation, and has been plausibly 
urged as an objection against the wisdom and goodness of 
Deity: like other objections, however, it is deceitful, and 
more showy than solid. Men have agreed to give the cha- 
racter of fertility to the soils which are favourable to the pro- 
duction of a few kinds of farinaceous grains, and to pronounce 
others barren and unfruitful. But many seeds, plants, and 
herbs, require a peculiar soil and climate to bring them to 
maturity, and the soil to which the character of fertility has 
been attached answers a few only. The fact has been known 
since the days of Theophrastus, and is mentioned in the 
pleasing verse of Virgil. The willow thrives in a moist soil ; 
the alder, in marshes ; the wild ash, on the rocky mountain ; 
the vine, on the open hill ; the yew, in a moist and elevated 



* The Himalaya mountains have been estimated at about 

27,000 feet ; but their height is not yet well ascertained See 

Cole bkooke's Essay in Asiatic Researches, vol. xii. p. 253, &c. 



168 XATl'RAL EVIL. 

situation. When mahogany prows in a barren soil, the grain 
of the wood is beautifully variegated; on rich soil, it is pale, 
open, and of little value. The cinnamon-tree thrives amidst 
arid sands. There arc plants suited to every soil. Even the 
trunks of trees and stones are covered with various kinds of 
liverwort. 

Grasses are the most useful, and also the most common, of 
all vegetables. They clothe the mountain and adorn the 
plain; they vegetate luxuriantly within the tropics, and in 
the summer months beautify and enrich the polar regions. 
The cereal grasses yield a rich nutriment to man ; and many 
grasses, which everywhere, cover the earth with spontaneous 
verdure, afford a suitable provision to the brute creation. 
Those grasses, herbs, and shrubs, which are rejected by one 
class of animals, are greedily eaten by another. As there is 
a vast variety of plants, many of which require both a pecu- 
liar climate and soil to bring them to perfection, so the wise 
and gracious Creator has provided a suitable climate and soil 
for plants of every kind. Animals have different tastes ; and 
their diffusion over the earth is promoted by these tastes, as 
well as by a corresponding variety of plants. And certainly 
it is a matter of no small moment, that the climate which 
suits the constitution of the animal, also produces the food 
which to it is most palatable. 

Even supposing any spot so barren and miserable as to af- 
ford neither subsistence nor shelter to any sentient being, this 
would furnish no other argument against the perfections of 
Deity than what would arise from a diminution of the surface 
of the earth. It would be merely so much of the globe with- 
drawn from the immediate use and service of living crea- 
tures. But we have no evidence that any part of the earth 
is so withdrawn. The poles are encompassed with a great 
barrier of ice: as far, however, as man has been able to pe- 
netrate towards them, the water abounds with inhabitants, 
some of which occasionally repair to the ice. In Nova Zem- 
bla there is no human habitation; hut there foxes and hears 
find a place of residence, and a scene of enjoyment. The 
ostrich delights in the burning sandy wilderness. 

From the nature of the soil and the inconstancy of the ele- 
ments, the crops at times may be deficient : but, in every case 
of famine, there is either a neglect or misapplication of our 
means, and of our physical and intellectual powers, or an 
abuse somewhere of free agency; for, with diligence and 
precaution, even the chill Icelander may always secure the 
means of subsistence either from his native soil and cir- 



NATURAL EVIL. 169 

cumambient seas, or by commercial intercourse with foreign, 
lands. And even within the tropics, and in the most fertile 
regions, when industry lifts a palsied hand and cultivation is 
neglected, scarcity and famine are not unknown. When the 
distant supplies which prudence and industry have provided 
are intercepted by hostile violence, there is an abuse of free 
agency; and, in a system carried on by the operation of ge- 
neral laws, this abuse at times may be severely felt even by 
the harmless and unoffending. 

Some have complained of poisonous herbs and minerals. 
Poison, however, is merely a relative term. No plant, I be- 
lieve, is absolutely destructive of animal life. Those vege- 
tables, which are disagreeable or poisonous to one class of 
living creatures, are grateful and nourishing to another. The 
horse gives up the common water hemlock to the goat; the 
goat leaves monkshood to the horse. Even wormwood and 
the acrid spurge yield an agreeable repast to some kinds of 
insects. The inferior animals are guarded against danger 
from what they eat by an instinctive delicacy of smell and 
taste. Man, at least after he has acquired an artificial taste 
by means of cookery, must exercise vigilance and sagacity; 
although his smell and taste, unless greatly perverted, will 
seldom or never mislead him. Even from those vegetables 
which are most destructive of human life, we can extract a 
salutary nutriment or a healing virtue. 

Some plants we can disarm of their poisonous qualities, 
and convert into materials of wholesome aliment. The bit- 
ter jatropha is an active poison. The natives of Haiti, who 
preferred death to involuntary labour, killed themselves by 
fifties with swallowing the raw juice of the plant. But even 
the juice of the bitter jatropha is rendered harmless by boiling 
and skimming, and is then used without danger as a sauce. 
The root is also baked into bread; but, in order to deprive it 
of its noxious qualities, it must be grated down and com- 
pressed. The empyreumatic oil of tobacco is an active poi- 
son. But tobacco in a variety of ways is advantageously 
used. It is even employed as a remed}^ against other poi- 
sons. " The Caraibs," says Humboldt, "used mashed to- 
bacco leaves as a counter poison. In our journey on the 
Orinoco, we saw mashed tobacco successfully applied to the 
bite of venomous serpents." Foxglove, hemlock, poppy, 
and other similar plants, have each medicinal virtues. 

We may remark, that different parts of the same plant, in 
many instances, have different qualities ; and the same may 
be said of plants in their different stages. Different plants 
15 



170 NATURAL EVIL. 

elaborate different juices from the same soil; and different 
animals elaborate differenl substances from the same plant. 
Bees form honey from thyme and roses; and from the same 
plant spiders draw a poison. From vegetables, innocuous 
and agreeable, a deleterious substance may be extracted. 
The laurel is pleasing, the almond beautiful and nutritive; 
but the laurel and the bitter almond yield most powerful poi- 
sons. 

Minerals do not constitute any part of human food, but 
they are of vast importance in the arts; and their value in 
the arts not unfrequently depends on those very qualities 
which render them destructive when taken into the stomach. 
Only a few are poisonous ; and most, or all even of these, 
are serviceable in medicine. Arsenic itself is employed with 
advantage in the healing art. In short, the constitution of 
the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, like everything else in 
the world, is adapted to the rational, active, and progressive 
nature of man. The existence of poisonous substances serves 
to awaken his vigilance, and exercise his sagacity ; and we 
may safely conclude, that there are neither plants nor mine- 
rals but what have been, or may be, turned to his advantage. 
The discovery of their qualities and uses exercises his inge- 
nuity; the application of them administers to his comfort, 
and diversifies his enjoyments. The discoveries which may 
yet be made in the progress of science, and the consequent 
advantages, we are unable to anticipate. 

On the surface of the earth there are very different climates ; 
and if it could be demonstrated that this could originate in 
nothing but a defect of power, wisdom, or goodness, then we 
would be compelled to admit that such defect adhered to the 
Author of the system; for difference of climate is part of the 
plan in the constitution of our globe. Towards the equator 
the heat is always considerable, except at great heights above 
the level of the sea: as we approach the poles, generally 
speaking, the cold increases. The climate of a country, 
however, does not depend altogether on its latitude; but also 
on its elevation above the level of the sea, its contiguity to 
the ocean, the configuration of the land, and a number of 
other local circumstances. The temperature of the earth va- 
ries from about 100° to — 10° Fahrenheit: the mean tempe- 
rature for the whole surface maybe estimated at 58°: the 
greatest summer heat is only about 42° above this: the 
greatest winter cold is about 98° under it. The temperature 
of man is about 96°, and is nearly the same in summer and 
winter, in an inhabitant of the torrid, and in one of the frigid 



NATURAL EVIL. 171 

zone. The temperature of the human hody is much above 
that of the surrounding medium. 

In the different climates there is no defect either of wisdom 
or goodness : they exhibit a display of those attributes by 
opening a field of enjoyment to a greater variety of sentient 
beings. Both in the sea and on the dry land there are ani- 
mals peculiar to certain climates. Some fishes are found 
chiefly within the tropics ; others have their residence in po- 
lar regions. A similar economy prevails on the dry land. 
Many animals, such as the monkey and the elephant, are na- 
tives of warm climates, and there they find that sort of pro- 
vision for which they have the greatest relish: others, such 
as the rein-deer, delight in high latitudes ; and there they 
find the food which to them is most palatable.* 

While many of the inferior animals are fitted, by their pe- 
culiar constitution, for living comfortably in one climate only, 
man is endowed with a flexibility of organization which ena- 
bles him to bear the temperature of every country. He can 
accommodate his dress to the climate, and can live, perhaps 
with equal degrees of happiness, in every parallel of latitude 
between Cape Horn and Greenland. Everywhere his intel- 
lectual and moral nature is equally susceptible of improve- 
ment. The Icelander, touching the Arctic Circle, is as in- 
telligent, virtuous, and happy, as the native of any country 
between the tropics. 

Man is so constituted, that habit produces great effects 
both on his body and mind ; fortifying the one against fatigue 
and privations, the rigour of the seasons, and the most rapid 
transitions from one degree of temperature to another; and 
not only reconciling the other to various modes of life, but 
even rendering these agreeable and pleasant. The Finlander 
amuses himself, for half an hour or an hour, in a bath heated 
to 150° or 160° Fahr. ; and frequently goes naked out of the 
bath to roll himself among the snow, when the mercury 
stands at 20° below the freezing point. From this great and 
sudden transition he receives no injury. It has been found 
that persons accustomed to attend an oven, have borne for 



* Lord Woodhouselee, in his edition of Derham's great work, 
the Physrco-theology, has given, from Mr. Zimmerman, a map 
of part of the world, in which, instead of the names of towns, 
we have the names of quadrupeds in the countries where they 
are found. A map of this kind of the whole earth, and com- 
prehending all known classes of animals, on a moderately large 
scale, would be both entertaining and instructive. 



172 NATURAL EVIL. 

ten minutes a heat equal to 280° Fahr. In common cases 
suffocation begins to take place in about half a minute after 
the body is submersed in water; but the divers in the pearl 
fishery can remain under water live minutes, almost as long 
as the seal, porpoise, and amphibia. The dexterity of the 
South Sea Islanders in swimming is well known. 

We are apt to set up our adventitious tastes and habits, sen- 
timents and employments, as the standard of excellence and 
measure of comfort, and to imagine that those things only 
which are sources of enjoyment to us can yield satisfaction 
and happiness and that what is disagreeable or 

painful to us must be equally so to all our fellow men. The 
native of a tropical country may imagine that the inhabitants 
of polar regions are a torpid, hungry, and miserable race; but 
they who dwell in high latitudes are not less active, cheerful, 
or vigorous, than they who bask in the rays of a vertical sun. 
The delicate European may shudder on seeing the Esquimaux 
or Kamtschadale feasting on putrid fish and rancid oil ; but 
the Esquimaux or Kamtschadale would spit out with disgust 
the choicest viands of the European epicure. A Laplander 
can form no conception of the wealth of a man who does not 
possess a single rein-deer ; and pities him who never feasts 
on the flesh of the bear, nor drinks the oil of the seal or the 
whale. A Turk imagines that the enjoyment of a man who 
does not smoke cannot be greater than that of a beast. A man 
in clothes appears as ridiculous to an Indian of California, as 
a monkey dressed in human apparel does to the common peo- 
ple of Europe. 

Notwithstanding all the differences of climate, almost every 
individual, from habit and sentiment, is disposed to give a 
preference to his native land. The Greenlander will not aban- 
don his icy coasts and the management of his frail kayak, for 
any other country or employment. To the Icelander no other 
spot on the globe has such charms as Iceland. The Kamt- 
schadale in his jourt, surrounded by deserts and tempests, be- 
lieves his native land to be the most eligible part of the earth, 
and considers himself the most fortunate and happy of human 
beings. The Laplander in the midst of mountains and storms, 
enjoys good health, often reaches old age, and would not ex- 
change Lapland for the palace of a King. The native of 
Congo believes that every other part of the world was formed 
Is; but that the Kingdom of Congo was the work- 
manship of the Supreme Architect, and must therefore have 
prerogatives and advantages above the rest of the earth. Al- 
though every other tie were broken, the dust of their fathers 



NATURAL EVIL. 173 

would bind most men to tlieir native land. Let not the cold 
sceptic deride the thought. The native of Asia frequenting 
the tomb of his ancestors, or the afflicted wanderer of the 
American wilderness piously pulling- the grass from the grave 
of a departed relative, will awaken sympathetic emotions in 
every ingenuous and affectionate mind. 

In the attachment to country we have an auxiliary to our 
social affections, and a bond for uniting men in large com- 
munities. But the attachment is not so strong as entirely to 
prevent dispersion, or hinder migration to unsettled countries 
by an oppressed or overflowing population. As men, gener- 
ally in every climate, are pleased with their country, and love 
it above every other, so in every stage of society they give 
the preference to those modes of life to which they have been 
accustomed. Hence changes and improvements in the eco- 
nomy and intercourse of any people are the result of a slow 
and gradual progress. Although men may be well pleased 
with their several circumstances, yet we must never forget 
that the most exalted enjoyment of the rational being flows 
from the acquisition of knowledge, and the practice of virtue. 

It thus appears, that we need not be forward in affecting to 
commiserate the destiny of those who are placed in circum- 
stances different from our own. Their habits and sentiments 
are accommodated to their condition, and they would not ex- 
change situations with us. As to climate, we are by no means 
to imagine that tropical countries are perpetually scorched by 
an unclouded sun ; or that the inhabitants of the polar circle, 
in winter, are buried in total darkness. Captain Cook informs 
us, that in general the tropical regions seldom enjoy that clear 
atmosphere observable where variable winds blow, nor does 
the sun shine with such brightness. A dull whiteness, that 
seems a medium between fog and clouds, for the most part, 
prevails in the sky. This is an advantage ; for otherwise, 
the probability is, that the rays of the sun being-uninterrupted 
would render the heat insupportable. The nights, neverthe- 
less, are often clear and serene. 

On the other hand, in high latitudes, although the sun be 
withdrawn, yet the inhabitants are not enveloped in com- 
plete darkness. At Spitzbergen, a sort of twilight, the splen- 
dour of the Aurora Borealis, the stars, and the reflection of the 
snow, serve to light the hunters on their excursions, and ena- 
ble them to continue the chase during the long night of a 
hyperborean winter. Hearne tells us, that in the vicinity of 
the Athapuscow lake, in the middle of December, the bril- 
liancy of the Aurora Borealis and the stars, even without the 
15* 



174 STATURAL EVIL. 

assistance of the moon, made it frequently so clear all night, 
that he could see to read a very small print. The Indians 
make no difference between night ami day when hunting the 
beaver. It may be added, that the annual distribution of heat 
over the surface of the earth is by no means so unequal as 
many persons are apt to imagine. The seasons give occa- 
sion to different employments, according to the climate and 
the nature of the country ; they also relieve insipid uniform- 
ity, and give variety to the appearances of the world, and to 
the pursuits of man. 

Thus, from the physical constitution of the globe, its water 
and dry land, its mountains and valleys, its different soils and 
different climates, there is no argument against the perfections 
of Deity ; for, on the greater part of the earth man can sub- 
sist, and that with equal degrees of happiness. Where man 
does not or cannot subsist, other sentient beings find a place 
of residence, and a scene of enjoyment suited to their natures. 
No part of it is void of animal existence. If there beany ar- 
gument, drawn from any part of the earth against the Divine 
attributes, it must equally apply to every part; and, if it be 
admitted that any part of it exhibits indications of wisdom 
and goodness, the admission must be extended to the whole. 
The earth is truly a convenient and pleasant habitation for 
man and other living creatures, and hears abundant testimony 
to the wisdom and goodness of the Creator. 

It may be pleaded, that mankind at times are afflicted by 
ungenial seasons, scanty crops, and consequent famine ; and 
that earthquakes, hurricanes, and inundations, overthrow the 
works, disappoint the hopes, and destroy the enjoyments or 
the life of man. That, to a certain extent, these things occa- 
sionally happen must be admitted ; that they constitute a diffi- 
culty, and may he alleged as an objection against the attri- 
butes of Deity need not be denied. But here, as in other in- 
stances of the same kind, the difficulty arises entirely from 
our ignorance, and in proportion as knowledge increases the 
difficulty will disappear. \ meet the objection with these ob- 
servations — that the world is governed by general laws ; and 
that this constitution of things is adapted to the nature and 
condition of man, as an intelligent and active being, in a state 
of trial and discipline, whose capacities must be unfolded, 
and his virtues improved by trial and exercise. 

All the phenomena prove that the world is governed by 
general laws. Although these laws be wise and good, yet 
they may sometimes interfere, and by their interference pro- 
duce partial evils. For example, the laws of gravitation, of 



NATURAL EVIL. 175 

the equilibrium of fluids, and of the disturbance of that equi- 
librium by heat, are formed and arranged by wisdom and 
goodness; but in the administration of these laws, such a 
concurrence of circumstances may sometimes happen as to 
produce partial evils. High winds arising from the distur- 
bance of the equilibrium of the aerial fluid by heat, may co- 
operate with the action of the sun and moon, and occasion re- 
markably high tides. The combinations of the same general 
laws may produce tempestuous commotions in the atmosphere, 
causing partial evils. There is reason, however, to believe 
that even these tempestuous commotions are subservient to 
general good. The storm that commixes the atmosphere and 
the ocean is, probably, one grand means of purifying the air 
contaminated by respiration, vegetation and combustion. The 
effect of general laws may be partial evil; but it unquestion- 
ably is general good. There are no general laws, either in 
the natural or moral world, that are more injurious than ad- 
vantageous. 

It may be said, why is not the good produced without the 
evil 1 Why are not the general laws so constituted, as to 
yield all the advantages which we derive from them without 
any of the disadvantages 1 Or, if they cannot be so consti- 
tuted, why are not the disadvantages prevented by special in- 
terpositions 1 That the world should be governed by general 
laws is not only proper, but indispensably requisite, in order 
to the regulation of human conduct. If there were no general 
laws, man would be the sport of irregular occurrences, and 
wholly at a loss how to act. He would be suddenly defeated 
in all his undertakings, and reason would be of no avail for 
the direction of his steps. If the sun rose and set at irregu- 
lar and uncertain periods ; if the return of the seasons were at 
variable and unknown intervals ; if the tides followed no reg- 
ular course, man would be obliged to act at random, and would 
be tossed to and fro by circumstances which he could neither 
foresee nor prevent. But general laws everywhere obtain ; 
and man can observe them, and act accordingly. They serve 
as beacons for the direction of his course, and he can use 
them almost every moment in the voyage of life. Whether 
general laws could be so framed as to produce all the good ef- 
fects which we derive from them, without any of the evils, 
we know not, nor is it needful to institute any inquiry on the 
subject ; for although it were possible that they could be so 
constituted, yet such a constitution would be improper ; and 
it would be equally improper to prevent the partial evils by 
special interpositions. 



176 NATURAL EVIL. 

If man were exposed to no danger ; if at all times he were 
secure from want, and disappointment, and pain, he would be 
a careless, lazy, stupid, and unhappy animal. Place the hu- 
man being, constituted as he is, in a situation where exertion 
would be either useless or needless, where the difficulties 
were insuperable, or where every object of desire spontane- 
ously flowed in upon him, and he would be miserable. If the 
the course of thingB were invariably accommodated to our 
wants and di sires; if, either by general laws or special inter- 
positions, every evil were infallibly prevented and every 
good thing secured, then prudence and industry would be 
altogether useless. There would be no room for human skill, 
and no motive to human action. There could be no display 
of skill where every object of desire was certainly obtained 
without it; and no motive to action where nothing could be 
gained by foresight and industry, and nothing lost by inat- 
tention and sloth. 

A state where dangers are to be provided against and 
averted by foresight, caution, and vigilance; where wants 
are to be supplied by industry and prudence; enjoyments 
procured by diligence andingenuity ; difficulties encountered, 
and trials home with courage, fortitude, and patience; where 
there is still something to excite desire, cherish hope, and 
stimulate and reward exertion ; such a state accords with the 
constitution of the human being, and is calculated both for his 
improvement and happiness. Such is the state of this world; 
fitted to rouse our energies, to animate our activity, and to 
reward persevering industry. Whenever, to any individual, 
the world ceases to be such a state, life stagnates, enjoyment 
flies away, and the consciousness of existence becomes a bur- 
den. Now, tempests and floods, and other partial evils 
resulting from the operation of general laws, are means of 
exercising and improving our faculties, of giving scope to 
prudence, fortitude, and activity, and thus promoting our hap- 
piness. Besides being suited to our rational and active nature, 
there is reason to believe that those phenomena which occa- 
sion partial evils are productive of great general benefit in 
the economy of the world. But here our ignorance inter- 
venes, and in a great measure prevents us from tracing the 
steps of the Creator in his government. 

2. Nature of some of the inferior animals. 

It is not against the inanimate parts of the world only that 
the objections of the sceptic have been directed: different 
department of animated nature have furnished him with 
materials of qucrimonious declamation. " Why are we in- 



NATURAL EVIL. 177 

fested with such multitudes of ferocious and venemous ani- 
mals, which endanger the safety, and often destroy the life of 
man 1 Why does the earth abound with useless and noxious 
creatures : with myriads of insects, which frequently coun- 
teract our labours, destroy the fruit of our industry, torment 
our persons, and devour the means of our subsistence]" 
With respect to declamation of this kind, it may be observ- 
ed, that nothing- is more common than to take certain princi- 
ples for granted, and to reason from those gratuitous assump- 
tions as if they were incontrovertible truths, although not a 
word has been said in proof of them. If any phenomena do 
not obviously and exactly agree with those assumed princi- 
ples and preconceived notions, the persons who have em- 
braced them murmur and complain, as if disorder reigned in 
the universe, and as if the vestiges of goodness were buried 
under the rubbish of irregularity and imperfection. 

Some persons, resembling the Ouadelim Arabs, who fancy 
that the sun rises for them only, have ambitiously assumed 
that not this earth merely, but all the splendid luminaries of 
the firmament also, were formed solely for the accommoda- 
tion and comfort of man. On this proud assumption they 
may wonder why there is such a vast apparatus of planets 
and fixed stars, which by their feeble light impart such in- 
considerable advantages to the earth. But the moment that we 
think of numerous orders of intelligent beings stationed in the 
different provinces of the universe, and inhabiting worlds 
suited to their different organizations and faculties, the mis- 
conception and the difficulty pass away. Others, more mo- 
dest in their pretensions, claim for man this lower world 
only, with the common advantages of the system. This 
claim they seem to advance for him exclusively, and to sup- 
pose that the world should furnish a scene of enjoyment to 
him alone, while no other creature should partake of the rich 
feast provided by the bountiful Creator, but in subserviency 
to man's pleasure and gratification. This assumption is 
equally gratuitous and false with the former, although not to 
the, same extent. Man, indeed, is the noblest inhabitant of 
this world, and has dominion over the inferior animals; but 
to them as well as to him the Creator has given a charter to 
inhabit the earth, and there to enjoy a scene of happiness 
suited to their natures. In some instances, it may be from 
invading those parts of the globe which the sovereign Distri- 
butor of the earth has allotted to them as their domain, that 
man exposes himself to their vengeance. 

The relations and dependencies of the different orders of 



178 NATURAL EVIL. 

sentient beings we at present do not fully comprehend. Per- 
haps a certain concatenation runs through the whole extent 
of animated nature, the lowest order of sentient creatures be- 
ingclosely connected with inorganic or vegetable matter, and, 
in the ascending series, every order joined to that which is 
immediately above it. till the highest is linked to the throne 
of the Creator; or some gradation and concatenation of this 
kind may obtain among the innumerable worlds stationed in 
the immensity of space. Such speculations are above our 
reach. We do not understand all the relations and depen- 
dencies of animated nature even in onr own world. If one 
class of sentient beings, which we think the most useless or 
noxious, were removed, this would perhaps pave the way for 
the destruction of a second ; the destruction of the second 
might ensure the extinction of a third, so that we are unable 
to calculate what might be the consequences of withdrawing 
any one species of living creatures from the face of the earth. 

The Creator may surely r , in a consistency with wisdom 
and goodness, make provision in the same world for different 
orders of sentient beings. And, if he do so, he may likewise, 
in a consistency with the same perfections, place in that 
world the several orders of beings from whom he has made 
provision, if the happiness of one order do not interfere with 
that of another, or if the interference, like general laws, pro- 
duce general good, and only T partial evil. If this principle be 
admitted, which I think it may, it will go far to vindicate the 
ways of God with respect to the sentient inhabitants of this 
globe. If the earth were overrun with rattlesnakes; if lions 
and tigers lay in ambush in every thicket, this would cer- 
tainly he too much for the precaution, the vigilance, and the 
activity' of man. It would overpower instead of exercising 
his faculties; it would destroy his happiness, instead of pro- 
moting his improvement. But ferocious and venomous ani- 
mals are thinly scattered over the globe. Elephants and 
buffaloes feed in great herds ; but lions and tigers, like rob- 
bers, are few in number, and lead a solitary life. There are 
multitudes of the serpent kind, but only a few are vencmous. 
Their fangs are excretory ducts connected with the poison- 
bag; and the very action of the jaws which inflicts the 
wound mechanically injects the poison into it. These few 
are a protection to all the serpent kind. 

The Creator has implanted in every living creature the de- 
sire of self-preservation, and has also bestowed upon each of 
them some means of security and defence in aid of this de- 
sire. The defensive weapons of some animals are far more 



NATURAL EVIL. 179 

formidable than those of others. The fang of the serpent and 
the tooth and paw of the lion are instruments of defence or 
offence, like the horn of the bull or the hoof of the horse : 
they are more terrible to others, but they are beneficial to the 
animals themselves. Instruments of defence are as needful 
to the animal as means of procuring food. Indeed, these 
often run into each other : in many instances the same orga- 
nization is employed for both purposes. If any instrument 
of defence be unobjectionable, if we admit the tooth of the dog 
and the hoof of the horse to be consistent with wisdom and 
goodness, then our objections against the paw of the lion and 
the tang of the viper can be of no great weight. In both 
we find weapons of defence; there is merely a difference in 
the degree of force. If in the one case the weapon is more 
formidable, it is a more sure protection to the animal, and 
a motive to greater caution in awakening its anger. The 
venemous tribes serve to arouse the vigilance and exercise the 
ingenuity of man in avoiding their bite, or in expelling or 
neutralizing their poison. In this way they contribute to the 
developement of our powers, by presenting difficulties and 
dangers which are not overwhelming, but which serve to 
awaken activity and quicken ingenuity. 

Man must be careful, vigilant, and active in cultivating the 
earth, in clearing it of weeds, and in superintending the 
growth of his crops. He must exercise a similar care, vigi- 
lance, and activity, in avoiding the tooth of the serpent and 
the paw of the lion. These and similar animals are, for the 
most part, natives of climates where nature dispenses her 
treasures with rich profusion, and therefore, if the faculties 
of man be not expanded in soliciting the earth for subsistence, 
they find a certain degree of exercise in watching and provid- 
ing against surrounding dangers. Besides, venemous and 
ferocious animals, which are comparatively few in number, 
teach us duly to value the inoffensive kinds. It is by con- 
trast chiefly that we learn the worth of our enjoyments. If 
the stream of felicity flowed without mixture and without in- 
terruption, it would cloy the appetite. Some bitter ingre- 
dient must be cast into our cup to make us relish what is 
sweet. We are more sensible of the beauties of a fine day 
after experiencing a tempest. The barren wilderness illus- 
trates the value of the fertile field ; and, in like manner, the 
ferocity of the tiger may teach us duly to estimate the meek- 
ness of the lamb ; and the envenomed tooth of the cobra ca- 
pella to value the innocuous qualities of the frog. 

It has been remarked, that throughout nature things which 



180 NATURAL EVIL. 

have a relation to each other for the advantage ot' man are 
found together. Thus, mines of gold and silver abound in 
South Aim lira; and mercury, which is used in separating 
petals from their ores, is also found there. Coal, 
which is so useful in smeltino- iron ore, is found along with 
it. Compensations, in like manner, accompany what is nox- 
ious. Travellers often fall ill of nervous fevers on the road 
between Caraccas and Cumana; but the valley and forests 
that emit the dangerous exhalations which occasion these 
fevers, also produce a tree, the bark of which furnishes a 
salutary remedy for the disease. Where there are many 
venemous reptiles, there the herbs which are the most certain 
antidote to their poison are found in the greatest plenty. If 
dangerous serpents abound in intratropical America, there the 
habula de Carthagena grows, by eating a little of which, fast- 
ing, the hunters in their excursions in the woods fortify 
themselves against the bite of the rattlesnake itself.* 

To some persons, those animals which in general estima- 

* Ulloa, Voyage Historique, &c, liv. i. c. 6, & liv. vi. c. 10. 

The habilla de Carthagena is a sort of beau which grows on 

a kind of willow. It is about an inch broad, nine lines long-, flat 
and heart-shaped. It is of an extremely hot nature, and an or- 
dinarv dose is less than the fourth part of a bean or kernel. 
For an account of the rattlesnake herb, by which the natives of 
Louisiana heal the bite of that snake, see Le Page de Pratz, 
History of Louisiana, vol. ii. pp. 43 — 73, English translation.— 
Carver's Travels, p. 482. 

Horses, cows, dogs, and fowls, seem to have an innate sense 
of their danger from snakes, and show evident symptoms of 
fear in approaching them, even when dead; but hogs so far 
from being- afraid of them, pursue and devour them with the 
greatest avidity, totally regardless of their bites. — Carver's Tra- 
vels, p. 483. Weld's Travels, vol. i. pp. 202-3, Hesychius of 
Miletus informs us that Neptune employed storks to extermi- 
nate serpents from the island of Tin,', in the Grecian Archipela- 
go, — Tburnefort, Voyage, torn. i. p. 258. Virg. JEn. xi.Tol. Ju- 
venal, xiv. 74. HOT. Cor. lib. iv. Od. iv. 1. 11. Iliad, xii. 201. 

Captain Sal) , in his " Wonders of Ellora," p. 452, second 
edition, speaks of the mongos, a little animal of the ferret kind, 
which eagerly lights large snakes, provided a particular grass 
grow near, "if bitten, it cats a quantity of this grass, vomits, 
rolls itself on the ground, and again engages in the combat: but 
it will by no mean's act offensively if this particular grass be not 
at hand. For mangos, sec also Edinburgh Cabinet Library, 
vol. villi p. 36. 



NATURAL EVIL. 181 

tion have a most disgusting- appearance furnish an agreeable 
article of food. Depons informs us that, on the banks of the 
Lake Tacarigua, in South America, the Indians and some of 
the Spaniards make their most delicious meal on the iguana, 
a kind of lizard of a greenish colour, and about two feet and 
a half long. This to persons unaccustomed to it would form 
a most loathsome dish. Dr. Shaw was told, that in Cairo 
and in its vicinity upwards of fort}'- thousand persons lived on 
lizards and serpents only. The savage -devours with avidity 
the vermin that prey upon him. In some countries, frogs are 
esteemed a delicate dish. Locusts at times sweep the face 
of a country like a conflagration. No green thing escapes 
their devouring tooth, and ruin marks their progress. But, 
besides furnishing a rich feast to the locust-bird, starlings, 
sparrows, and swallows, their myriads yield a nutritious re- 
past to the Arab ; and thus in some measure compensate the 
desolation which they have occasioned. 

The bee may sting; but it furnishes us with honey and 
wax. Some insects toil diligently in our service ; and others, 
which at first sight seem useless or loathsome, may be ap- 
plied to beneficial purposes. The silk-worm provides for us 
the materials of a fine attire. The cochineal imparts a beau- 
tiful colour to our raiment. Leeches, cantharides, and other 
inferior animals, can be made to contribute to the preservation 
of our health, or the removal of our diseases. Many small 
animals may, no doubt, he applied to valuable purposes with 
which we are yet unacquainted. Here, as in other depart- 
ments of nature, there is room for patient observation and 
careful experiment; for the exercise of ingenuity and the pro- 
gress of discovery. We many never, perhaps, find out all 
the uses of every species of insects, but even at present we 
know enough to justify the ways of God to man. 

Thus, when we survey the inferior animals, we perceive 
that their vast number and variety exhibit a brilliant display 
of the perfections of Deity. Wisdom and goodness are mani- 
fested in the bodily organization and instinctive propensities 
of every species, as well as in the provision made for sup- 
plying their wants. When viewed in reference to man, they 
harmonize with other parts of the scene in which he is placed, 
serving to awaken his vigilance and activity, to exercise his 
ingenuity, to aid him in his labours, to supply his wants, and 
to diversify his enjoyments. 

Why, it may be inquired, do living creatures prey upon 
one another 1 Why do not all animated beings on earth live 
together in harmony, and with mutual affection partake of the 
16 



182 NATURAL EVIL. 

common bounty of the Creator'? That animals prey on each 
other cannot be denied. Their doing so is agreeable to the 
constitution of nature; for the bodily conformation of some 
of them furnishes unequivocal evidence that they were de- 
signed to wage war against others; and fact corresponds 
with the indication. A scene of hostility pervades the ocean, 
and prevails to a considerable extent on dry land. Among 
the inhabitants of the waters, the strongest, with a few 
exceptions, prey voraciously upon the weaker. Flight and 
pursuit, escaping from one and devouring another, constitute 
their employment. On land, the lion and tiger encounter 
each other; "both of these prey upon other quadrupeds, and 
attack even man himself. Man also is a carnivorous 
animal. 

The hostility that prevails among sentient beings exhibits 
a strange scene ; and seems, at first sight, to militate against 
the attribute of goodness, in the Author of the system. But 
when we reflect that this scene in a great measure stands 
alone, and is everywhere surrounded by plain indications of 
benignity, we must feel ourselves constrained to pause 
before we come to any conclusion unfavourable to the perfec- 
tions of Deity. Although we could give no explanation what- 
ever of this phenomenon, yet in the midst of so many proofs 
of goodness, it would rather become us humbly to acknow- 
ledge our ignorance, than to impeach the attributes of the 
Author of all our mercies. Puzzling as the fact under consi- 
deration may appear, we need not abandon it in despair, as 
incapable of explanation. The following observations may 
satisfy us that it is not incompatible with that wisdom and 
goodness which are so obvious in the general constitution of 
the world. 

First, immortality upon this earth, as Dr. Paley has justly 
observed, is out of the question. On the supposition of im- 
mortality here, it is obvious that the process of propagation 
must soon terminate. The world would soon be replenished 
with inhabitants ; there would be no room for more, and a 
great source of animal happiness would be dried up. The 
term of life assigned to different animals can form no objec- 
tion ; for if we object to the short, term of a day, we may ob- 
ject on the same principle to a hundred years, or to any other 
limited period ; and still ask, why was not the term of life 
longer ] The consonancy of death with wisdom and goodness 
must be admitted; and the term of life assigned to any ani- 
mal cannot fairly be urged as an objection. The whole ques- 
tion then is reduced to this point : the manner in which the 



NATURAL EVIL. 183 

sentence of death is carried into execution. This can be only 
by the decays of nature, by disease, or by violence. When 
the animal dies by violence, I apprehend that, generally 
speaking, it suffers much less pain, than when it dies by the 
decays of nature, or by the operation of disease. The 
pain may be more intense, but it is of much shorter dura- 
tion. 

Harsh seems the ordinance, that life by life 
Should be sustained; and yet when all must die, 
And be like water spilt upon the ground, 
Which none can gather up, — the speediest fate, 
Though violent and terrible, is best.* 

Man, under the decays of nature or the pressure of disease, 
has commonly some tender friend to sympathize with him, 
and to assist him. When he is destitute of this sympathy and 
assistance, we deem his condition the most deplorable to 
which a human being- can be exposed. Who, without feeling 1 
his heart melt within him, can think of the aged Or sick In- 
dian in the wilds of Canada, unable any longer to travel with 
his band, covered over in the depth of winter with a few 
bushes, and left alone to perish with cold, and hunger, and 
disease 1 But the beast, not under the immediate protection 
of man, that dies by disease or old age, is in a state resem- 
bling that of the Indian. A violent death abridges instead of 
increasing suffering. 

Secondly, The present constitution of things does not di- 
minish the happiness of the inferior animals during life; they 
are afflicted by no painful anticipations. Attack and defence, 
flight and pursuit exercise their activity, and seem to consti- 
tute no small part of their enjoyments. The ocean is a great 
scene of hostility, and so far as we are able to judge of its 
inhabitants, their pleasure is not small. It seems in no de- 
gree lessened by the perpetual war that is going on. On the 
dry land, the dangers to which animals are liable do not de- 
prive them of the happiness of which their natures are sus- 
ceptible. It is only in the moment, of actual suffering from 
violence that the present constitution of things gives the ani- 
mal any pain. 

Thirdly, While the present constitution of things does not 
appear to subtract from the happiness of sentient beings during 
life, and while it abridges the pains of death, it is the means 
of providing subsistence for a greater number and variety of 

* Montgomery's Pelican Island. 



184 NAT; -RAL EVIL. 

animals than could have otherwise existed in the world, and 
thus inci neral sum of happiness. If all animals 

had been herbivorous only, it is obvious that the same num- 
ber and variety of them could not have subsisted in the same 
may do so according to the present constitution. 
But, within certain limits, which have never yet been exceed- 
ed, the more numerous animals are. the greater is the sum 
total of happiness on earth. I have already had occasion to 
iundity of the several tribes of animals is 
well suited to their several terms of life, and to the dangers 
and waste to which they are exposed. Not one species 
perishes by the voracity of others. The prcdaceous kinds 
are not nearly so numerous as those of a more mild and inof- 
fensive nature; there are thousands of sheep for one tiger; 
innumerable larks for one eagle. 

The fecundity of animals enables us to regulate the numbers 
of any kind, according to our wants or our pleasure. It is 
also the means of filling up the blank where man does not 
dwell. Such is the constitution of nature, that if we turn up 
the soil in any spot, it will ere long be clothed with verdure, 
although we "sow nothing there. Seeds will find their way to 
the place. In like maimer, although man retire from any part 
of the earth, it will not remain an untenanted wilderness. Some 
of the inferior tribes will take possession of it. It will still be 
a scene of life and of enjoyment. If man return, he can make 
the inferior animals of every kind retire before him, contribute 
to his subsistence, or aid him in his labours. 

The depredations of animals, then, upon each other is only 
an apparent, not a real evil : it forms no solid objection against 
the o-oodness of Deity, for it does not appear to diminish the 
happiness of any animal during life. It abridges suffering at 
death, and furnishes subsistence to a greater number of ani- 
mals than could otherwise live on the earth. Moreover, the 
inferior animals have no moral nature to be depraved by the 
system of depredation, or to be improved by the sufferings 
preceding;- death in the slow decays of nature, or in the pro- 
gress of disease. Man may act towards them in such a way 
as to deprave his moral faculties : wanton cruelty will harden 
his heart. But if he make only a legitimate use of his do- 
minion, he may avail himself of them, either to assist him in 
his labours, or to supply his wants, without any perversion 
or debasement of his nature. 

3. The pains and sorrows to which man is exposed from 
his constitution, and the circumstances in which he is placed. 

We may here take notice of an objection on which some 



NATURAL EVIL. 185 

persons seem to lay considerable stress. They complain that 
the progress of population always presses upon or outstrips 
the means of subsistence, and that the consequent unavoida- 
ble misery is an evidence that the Author of Nature is care- 
less about human happiness. This constitution, however, is 
in exact accordance with the other parts of the system, and 
produces most beneficial effects : it calls forth exertion, 
sharpens ingenuity, prompts to the appropriation and culture 
of the soil, and to the arts and improvements which enrich 
and adorn society; it spreads mankind over the different 
parts of the globe, and conducts the genial stream of know- 
ledge and civilization to every country. The band of wan- 
dering savages subsists by gathering the spontaneous pro- 
ductions of the earth, and by hunting and fishing. When 
their numbers multiply they seek an addition to their pre- 
carious maintenance by a partial cultivation of the ground. 
The principle of multiplication, acting as a propelling power, 
presses them forward in the career of agricultural improve- 
ment. Arts are invented, commerce is undertaken, the va- 
riety of roots, fruits, and grains is accommodated to a grow- 
ing community. 

When by a skilful agriculture, and a judicious adjustment 
of crops, the soil is made to produce the greatest possible 
quantity of human food, then cultivation has attained perfec- 
tion. In no country, however, has agriculture hitherto reached 
this point; for in many parts even of China, of the great 
population of which so much has been said, the cultivation of 
the earth is in a very imperfect state. Unoccupied or thinly 
inhabited regions are open to receive an overflowing, or dis- 
contented and restless population, just as some part of our 
native country commonly receives us when we quit the pa- 
ternal roof which sheltered our infant and youthful j^ears. 
These emigrants carry along with them part of the manners 
and attainments of their native land, and diffuse knowledge 
and civilization more widely over the earth. In this way in- 
dustry is kept in constant activity, and mankind are gradually 
improved. But while the principle of population is of such 
vast and beneficial importance in the course of human affairs, 
it is not to be forgotten that the passions and appetites ought 
to be under the guidance of reason ; and that marriage ought 
not to be entered into, without foresight and a due considera- 
tion of circumstances. In densely peopled countries, pruden- 
tial restraints operate as a silent, but powerful check, on the 
increase of the species. Instead, however, of dwelling on. 
this subject, we shall pass on to other topics. 
16* 



186 NATURAL EVIL. 

From the constitution of our nature, and the circumstances 
in which we are placed, we are unavoidably exposed to oc- 
casional pain, grief, and disease; and we must at last die. 
Pain, grief, and disease are sometimes entirely owing to the 
times they are greatly in- 
creased by it. In so far as they How from this source, we 
have ourselves to blame ; and this part of the subject has 
been considered in a preceding section. At present, it is only 
that portion of pain and grief to which we are unavoidably 
exposed by the constitution of our nature and the circumstances 
in which we are placed that claims our attention. This, com- 
paratively speaking, forms but a small portion of human suf- 
fering. If from the sum total we subtract the product of im- 
prudence, folly, and vice, we will leave but a small remain- 
der behind : and with respect to this remainder, it is the re- 
sult of wise general laws* and is productive of good effects. 

Our body-is a material fabric, and must be subject to those 
general laws by which matter is governed. General laws, 
as we have already seen, are highly advantageous. Without 
them we would be altogether r.t a loss how to act. They are 
beacons for the regulation of our conduct. Yet from their ope- 
ration partial evils'may arise. The law of gravitation is good ; 
but a stone may fall, and hurt or kill a man ; or a man may 
fall and be hurt or killed. But why were we made suscepti- 
ble of pain ? To this it may be replied, that we cannot easily 
conceive a material being susceptible of pleasure, and not 
also susceptible of pain. Certain it is that pain is often the 
means of giving a higher relish to pleasure, while its removal 
is a source of sweet enjoyment. It is even productive of good 
effects in the measure in which we are exposed to it; foT 
who would wish to be deprived of that sensibility which is 
the occasion of pain? We may even go farther, and assert 
that it proves benevolent, intention, fur it is never inflicted on 
us merely for its own sake, but is a sentinel to watch over 
our preservation and our happiness. 

What lias been said of pain may be applied in some mea- 
sure to grief. Nome sorrows are counterbalanced by conco- 
mitant pleasures. "The joy of grief," at first sight, may 
seem a solecism in language; but the propriety and beauty 
of the expression are recognized by those who have attended 
to the operations of their own minds. I pass over the griefs 
which arise from false estimates, lofty pretensions, violent 
passions, and the whims of a sickly and perverted imagina- 
tion. They are the creatures of our own folly, and can never 
with justice be set down in the account against our Creator. 



NATURAL EVIL. 187 

The mortifications, the griefs, and the sufferings from political 
institutions of society, fall under free agency. If men chose, 
those things might be otherwise. If the institutions are real- 
ly best for all, there is no reason to complain of them. If 
they be the means of sacrificing the happiness of the many 
to the interests or caprice of the few, this is an abuse of free 
agency, and falls under the observations made in a former 
section. 

Similar remarks may be applied to bodily disease. Where 
there is no neglect or perversion of our means, no abuse of 
free agency, disease does not often occur. It is a common 
and a true observation, that exercise and temperance are the 
best physicians. Most persons find occasion for the first of 
these in the course of their lawful avocations : it is our own 
fault if we neglect the last. By industry we are able, gene- 
rally speaking, to procure the means of satisfying the desires 
of nature : to pamper luxury is injurious to health ; for if one 
die of hunger, or of disease induced by too spare a diet, ten 
hasten their dissolution by repletion and surfeiting. When 
we consider the complicated mechanism of the human body, 
and the variety of circumstances in which we may be placed 
without injury, we are justified in saying that health is not 
easily impaired. It often remains uninjured, or is but little 
affected, although the body be in very different states and 
circumstances. 

The decays of old age, or long continued disease, recon- 
cile us to dissolution. The love of life, in general, is suffi- 
ciently strong to induce us to use every means in our power 
for its preservation, and to submit to all our trials rather than 
resign it. Still the mind, as well as the body, is gradually 
prepared for a change. Death has a formidable aspect to a 
person in health ; but to one who has passed through the gra- 
dually declining stages of old age, or of lingering sickness, 
it has lost much of its terrors. Every step prepares for that 
which is to follow. Death is the lot of humanity, and the 
time when we shall undergo that change is uncertain. This 
uncertainty is a wise appointment. It preserves the spur to 
caution and activity, neither checking the spirit of enterprise 
by the prospect of impending dissolution, nor yet encouraging 
temerity, presumption, or procrastination, by the certainty of 
a prolongation of life. 

This world is not a place for our everlasting residence. 
Here we cannot reach the perfections of our nature ; and if 
we could, this earth would be found an unsuitable habitation. 
It would present too many causes of irritation, and would 



188 NATURAL EVIL. 

not afford adequate sources of enjoyment. It is fitted mere- 
ly tor the introductory stage of our progressive being. It is 
admirably adapted to our intellectual and moral improvement 
in thai stage? and we are called off before the scene becomes 
mini. * t for us. The sjenerations of the human race pass away 
in succession to another state of existence, and this succes- 
sion seems accommodated to the greatest sum total of hap- 
i eartli. The young have the keenest relish for the 
world and its enjoyments. True, indeed, the evening of a 
good man's days is by no means comfortless ; but his chief 
happiness arises from the retrospect of a well spent life, and 
the anticipation of a nobler state of being. In this world, 
we pass through a course of education for a better. 

Is it objected that many of the human race make little or 
no improvement, either intellectual or moral 1 If they neglect 
their talents and opportunities, the blame is their own ; and 
their misconduct can form no objection against the Author of 
their existence, and fountain of their mercies. Do you com- 
plain that you are cut off in the midst of your days? Your 
constitution is not indestructible, and in certain circumstances, 
you expose yourself to disease, which, operating according 
to general laws, may terminate fatally. In this, however, 
there is no chance, for dinner is introduced only when know- 
ledge ends ; it is merely the operation of general laws to 
which we may not have duly attended. Many children die. 
But that so many infants die, is owing, in no small degree, 
to carelessness and mismanagement. In some foundling hos- 
pitals, scarcely any survive. In healthy situations, with heal- 
thy and attentive parents, few die. If children were not 
liable to death, parents would bo utterly careless ; but by the 
existing constitution of things, the carelessness of parents is 
punished by the wounds which the death of children inflicts on 
parental affection. As to the future state of children, we need 
have no difficulty in confiding it to that great and gracious 
Beino- who gives such innumerable instances of goodness ia 
every department of nature around us. 

Men are placed in very different circumstances in the world, 
and exposed to a variety of vicissitudes. But difference of 
external circumstances seems to occasion no diminution of 
happiness. The labourer who earns his daily bread by the 
sweat of his brow, is as healthy and as happy as he who 
wears a crown. The one is insensible to what we consider the 
hardships of his condition, the other is familiar with what 
we think his enjoyments; and in point of happiness, habit, 
and sentiment, have set them nearly on a level. That con- 



NATURAL EVIL. 189 

stitution of things by which trials overtake us, is adapted to 
the state of discipline in which we are placed, and aids con- . 
science in indicating the path of duty, by checking our aber- 
rations, curbing our passions, and producing salutary effects 
both on our intellectual and moral nature. 

Without trial and suffering, both in ourselves and others, 
some of our best affections would lie dormant, and some of 
the noblest energies of our nature have no room for action. 
Where can courage, and fortitude, and patience, be acquired 
and displayed, but in the face of difficulties, and under the 
pressure of affliction 1 The skilful and intrepid mariner does 
not acquire his knowledge, dexterity, and courage, on the 
bosom of the sleeping lake. He must encounter the hard- 
ships and perils of the tempest.' The hardy and fearless war- 
rior is not trained in the calm sequestered vale of pastoral 
life : he must mingle in the fatigue, noise, and carnage of 
martial achievements. In like manner, the candidate for 
moral and intellectual excellence must not slumber away life 
on a bed of down : he must submit to laborious exertion and 
severe trial. How is a compassionate sympathy excited, ex- 
cept by scenes of sorrow and suffering'? Hence the Hebrew 
sage, who was no inattentive observer of the moral tenden- 
cies of our nature, says, " It. is better to go to the house of 
mourning than go to the house of feasting ; for by the sad- 
ness of the countenance the heart is made better." Our suf- 
ferings and sorrows, even when they produce no salutary ef- 
fect on ourselves, may prove beneficial to others. Prosperity 
and adversity are different modes of education and trial, and 
our limited knowledge does not enable us to say which of 
them, in any given case, requires the steadiest exercise of 
virtue, or is the most efficacious means of improvement. In 
a higher stage of existence there may be no need for courage, 
fortitude, patience, and pity ; because there danger and suf- 
fering, may be unknown. But there may be need for the 
temper formed by those virtues. . 

We have seen that the terraqueous globe is admirably fitted 
up as a place of residence for sentient beings ; aud a grada- 
tion of sentient beings is consistent with the wisdom and 
goodness of Deity. To deny this were, in effect, to deny 
that any creature could exist in a consistency with the divine 
perfections. If we declare it to be incompatible with wis- 
dom and goodness to form creatures in any one point of the 
scale, we may, with equal propriety, make a similar declara- 
tion with respect to any other point. The earth is replenish- 
ed with a great variety of animals, and it is fitted for being 



190 



NATTRAL EVIL. 



a scene of enjoyment to every species. Man}' of the kinds 
, prey upon others; but this constitution impairs the happiness 
of none: it is the means of.supporting a greater number than 
could otherwise have found subsistence, and consequently in- 
creases the sum of enjoyment. Man is the noblest inhabi- 
tant of the earth, and has dominion over the inferior creatures. 
He is a rational being, a free agent, the subject of moral go- 
vernment. He may abuse his liberty, and subject himself to 
a corresponding punishment. But this punishment results 
from his own perversity, and cannot be pleaded as an objec- 
tion against the wisdom and goodness of God; for the agent 
might have acted otherwise, and not only avoided the punish- 
ment, but enjoyed reward. Moral evil, therefore, and all its 
consequences, must at once be laid out of the question, when 
estimating the perfections of Deity by his works and govern- 
ment. 

The inferior animals are guided by instinct, and their na- 
ture is stationary. Man, however, is not only a rational but 
a progressive being; and he is endued with a restless activi- 
ty. Here he is placed in a school, not seated at a banquet ; 
and both his improvement and happiness are promoted by 
exertion. Everything around us is fitted to our constitution, 
to stimulate activity, to encourage hope, to reward industry. 
Nature does not spontaneously supply our wants and gratify 
our desires, but she yields to our ingenuity and diligence. 
A succession of wants and desires prompts to a repetition of 
exertions, and promotes progressive improvement. Difficul- 
ties occur; but they are not insuperable: they awaken our 
energies and exercise our talents. The prize is within our 
reach ; but we must run vigorously in order to obtain it. 
The victory may be acquired, but we must combat valiantly 
in order to remain masters of the field. Of this constitution 
of things men may complain ; they may complain that we 
must run to obtain the prize, that the crown is not set upon 
our head till we are qualified to wear it. This, however, is 
the only constitution of things suited to our nature. If we 
were placed in a scene where every want was easily and in- 
stantaneously supplied, and every wish at once gratified with- 
out contrivance or exertion ; where there was no room for 
hope or fear, for ingenuity or activity, for the operation of the 
affections of the heart or the powers of the understanding, 
we would be torpid creatures, overwhelmed with melancholy 
languor, and scarcely able to support the burden of life. 
But the vicissitudes and trials to which we are exposed call 



NATURAL EVIL. 191 

forth our energies, awaken the noblest sensibilities of our 
nature, and strengthen our best affections. 

Disease is not unfrequently the means of leading to the 
path of virtue ; it has a salutary operation on our moral consti- 
tution, and prepares us for the rewards of obedience. Death 
is a departure from the present scene ; and we have good rea- 
son to conclude that, with respect to those who have acted 
virtuously here, it is a transition to a more exalted state of 
being. No virtuous person, then, has reason to complain: 
the vicious ought to direct their murmurs and complaints, not 
against the Author of their existence and their enjoyments, 
but against their own folly and perversity in disobeying the 
dictates of reason and conscience, and so forfeiting that hap- 
piness which the bountiful Creator has placed within their 
/each. 



BOOK IV. 

THE GOSPEL. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE GOSPEL A MESSAGE FROM GOD. 

Having attended to the evidence of Nature in support of 
the being;, perfections, and government of God, we shall now 
listen to^the testimony of Revelation on the same interesting 
topics. The Deity evidently appears in his works ; but there 
we see only the great outlines of his character, and these 
outlines dimly and at a distance. We see so much of Him 
that we can be in no mistake as to his existence and some of 
his attributes ; but we have only a general notion of his cha- 
racter, as we have of the features of a person whom we see 
in the twilight. If we wish to obtain a nearer and more dis- 
tinct view of the perfections of the Creator, we must turn to 
the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, which throw a bright 
glory around the throne of our Father. 

Jesus addresses us as the prophet of the church and " thje 
light of the world." He speaks with authority as the am- 
bassador of God and the Saviour of men ; promises the no- 
blest rewards to his faithful and obedient followers ; and de- 
nounces vengeance against those who refuse to listen to his 
voice and walk in his way. As he assumes such an autho- 
ritative tone, and enforces his doctrine by such lofty sanc- 
tions, it is natural and interesting to inquire upon what 
grounds his pretentions rest, and how he proves his commis- 
sion from God. Therefore, before entering on the considera- 
tion of his doctrines, we shall glance at the proofs of his 
mission ; although it is not intended to enter fully into the 
evidences of the gospel, but merely to make a few short re- 
marks on the subject; and we assume the facts recorded in 
the evangelical history as true, in so far at least as they are 
not miraculous. That Jesus lived in Judea, and was put to 



THE GOSPEL A MESSAGE FROM GOD. 193 

ileath as a malefactor in the reign of Tiberius Caesar, is at- 
tested by heathen historians as-well as by Jews and Chris- 
tians. We may as well deny that Tiberius Caisar was em- 
peror, and Pontius Pilate procurator of Judea, as deny the 
leading facts recorded in the history of Jesus. Besides, in 
the gospel all the allusions to manners, customs, and opinions, 
to natural and to civil history, and to local circumstances, 
are strictly correct. This gives no small degree of credit to 
the narration. Assuming, then, the truth of the ordinary facts 
in the gospel, the question is, whether, in all the circum- 
stances of the case, we have sufficient reason to believe the 
miraculous facts, and to receive the doctrine as the word of 
God. 

The single fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ draws 
after it the divinity of his mission and the truth of his doc- 
trine. Concerning many things that have been stated as doc- 
trines of Jesus, Christians may dispute among themselves. 
But how much soever those disputes may affect the peculiar 
creed of sects or of individuals, they make no impression on 
the divine mission of Christ, or on the truth of the doctrines 
which he really taught. If we have credible evidence of his 
resurrection from the dead, according to his own prediction, 
we have at the same time credible evidence of the divinity of 
his mission, and truth of his religion. Overturn the evidence 
of the resurrection, and } r ou destroy the claims of Jesus as a 
teacher sent from God; but if you establish his resurrection, 
you place his divine mission and the truth of his doctrine be- 
yond the reach of suspicion. At the tomb of Jesus the great 
controversy between the infidel and the believer must be de- 
cided. 

The evidence that Christ rose from the dead, although it 
do not obviate every cavil and silence every gainsayer, is 
such as may satisfy the sober and candid inquirer after truth. 
Jesus repeatedly foretold his resurrection. This cannot in 
fair argument be denied. The reality of the prediction is 
closely connected with an ordinary fact, the stationing of a 
Roman guard at the sepulchre. The prediction cannot be 
denied without also denying that a guard watched the tomb ; 
for the one was the cause of the other. If any person refuse 
to admit this, he may just as well deny any other historical 
fact, the crucifixion, or even the very existence of Christ. 
With the extravagance of Boulanger and Dupuis, he may 
maintain that Jesus and his twelve apostles were merely per- 
sonifications of the sun and of the twelve signs of the zodiac ; 
or, with the ignorant and unblushing effrontery of others, he 
17 



194 THE GOSPEL A MESSAGE FROM GOD. 

may assert that Jesus selected his disciples from among the 
learned men of his nation. But the reveries of the disorder- 
ed imaginations of fanatics in infidelity and atheism are not 
to be substituted in the room of the dictates of sound reason 
and the genuine records of history. Unless historical evi- 
to be entirely set aside, the stationing of the guard, 
and consequently the prediction of the resurrection, must be 
admi: 

Now, for a person to foretell his own resurrection from the 
I to suspend, as Jesus did, the credit of his character 
and claims upon the accomplishment of this singular predic- 
tion, is surely, in a person of a sound understanding, as Jesus 
unquestionably was, a very surprising circumstance. But 
when we see this singular and unprecedented prediction ful- 
filled, we cannot account for it in any other way, than by ad- 
mitting the divine mission and inspiration of Him who utter- 
ed it. We have, however, credible and satisfactory evidence 
that this prediction of Jesus was fulfilled. Without entering 
minutely into circumstances, or stating the proof of the re- 
surrection in detail, we shall mention merely one branch of 
the evidence ; the plain and decisive testimony of eleven men. 
With respect to the fact under consideration, those eleven 
men could not themselves be deceived, and we have no reason 
whatever to suspect that they had any intention of deceiving 
others. They could not themselves be deceived. Their op- 
portunities of obtaining certain information preclude this sup- 
position. The}- were not easy of belief. One of them, in 
presence of the rest, examined the fact with all the jealous 
attention of incredulity. His doubts were completely re- 
moved, and his faith firmly established. 

As we cannot imagine that these eleven men were them- 
selves deceived, shall we suppose that there was a collusion 
among them to deceive the world 1 Both their characters and 
their circumstances set this supposition aside. Everything 
on the face of the record, i or of the gospel his- 

tory, proclaims them honest men. Indeed, none but honest 
men would have acted the part they did. They had no world- 
ly motive to declare that their Master was risen from the 
dead. They well knew that from this they were not to de- 
rive either ease, or honour, or emolument. Obloquy, perse- 
cution, and death, were the only fruits which they could 
expect to reap from their testimony. They must, then, have 
acted from a n of the truth of the fact 

which they published, and from a full persuasion of its un- 
speakable importance to their own happiness, and to the best 



THE GOSPEL A. MESSAGE FROM GOD. 195 

interests of the human race. Any apparent discrepancy in 
their account of the event merely shows that they did not act 
in concert, but in no degree invalidates their testimony. The 
resurrection of Jesus is only one instance of the great argu- 
ment arising from prophecy and miracles. It combines the 
two. It is a miracle in fulfilment of the prophecy. Instead, 
however, of a more minute discussion of this subject, we shall 
take a cursory view of the evidence of the divine mission of 
Jesus as resulting from miracles, from prophecy, from the 
character of Jesus, and from the intrinsic excellence of the 
gospel. It is not our intention to treat of these at large, but 
merely to make a few remarks, corresponding rather with the 
brevity of the other parts of this treatise, than with the im- 
portance of the subject under consideration. 

Even the possibility of a revelation from God has been 
denied : and were the thing impossible, it were mere trifling 
to adduce evidence that it had actually happened, for no evi- 
dence could prove it true. The impossibility, however, of a 
divine revelation is not only a gratuitous but an absurd as- 
sumption. For if there be a God, wise and good, by whom 
all things exist, as we think has been already proved, then it 
is pure folly to deny the possibility, either physical or moral, 
of his communicating the knowledge of his will to his ra- 
tional offspring. Has his potent arm projected the planets 
in their orbits ; has he endued us with organs of sense, with 
instinct and with reason, and can he not impart to us the v 
knowledge of his will, and of our duty 1 ? Has he made a 
liberal provision for the beasts of the field and the fowls of 
the air, and shall he withhold instruction from his erring 
children 1 Has he provided, in the natural world, for the re- 
moval or our bodily disorders, and shall he neg-lect our moral 
diseases ] Let the cheerless partisan of infidelity brood over 
these absurdities, and flatter his own guilty passions by deny- 
ing the existence, or limiting the perfections of the Creator ; 
but let every one w r ho is desirous of knowing his duty, and 
of rising to intellectual and moral excellence, rejoice in the 
full persuasion, that the Sovereign of the universe can easily 
communicate the knowledge of his will to all on whom he 
has bestowed understanding, and that he will not withhold 
instruction from the subjects of his government. 

It has been alleged that revelation was unnecessary. But 
if it appear that " the world by wisdom knew not God," then 
the expediency of revelation is manifest. We may, with 
perfect certainty, discover the existence of the Almighty by 
his works and government; and we are capable, in some de- 



196 THE GOSPEL A MESSAGE FROM GOD. 

"free, of acquiring- a knowledge of the perfections of his nature, 
from the same sources. Accordingly, some heathen writers 
i manyjusl sentiments concerning- the attributes 
of God, and the duty of man ; but without either the certainty 
or precision of revelation. Their doctrine, however, had no 
influence on the opinions, worship, or conduct of the multi- 
tude. The mass of mankind are neither qualified nor inclined 
to follow any chain of reasoning, nor to trace the links of a 
systi hi. They need to have the truth set before them in a 
plain and practical manner, and enforced by solemn and af- 
fecting sanctions. With the single exception of the Hebrews, 
let us take any ancient nation of which we have an authentic 
record, and we will find their faith, worship, and practice, at 
variance with the dictates of sound reason. Let us take any 
modern nation, such as the Chinese or Hindoos, where the 
creed of the people has in no degree been influenced and mo- 
dified by the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, and we will 
find their faith and their worship equally absurd. 

As far then as an experiment of vast extent, and carried on 
in almost every possible variety of circumstances, can enable 
us to judge, we may fairly pronounce, that, without a revela- 
tion, neither the faith, worship, nor practice of the bulk of 
mankind would have been consistent with sound reason. Per- 
haps one great cause of postponing the appearance of Jesus 
Christ till such a late period was, that men might have an 
experimental proof of this important truth, and be led to a 
grateful sense of the value of the gospel ; for if, in the face 
of such a mass of evidence to the contrar) r , some persons 
plead that there was no need of a revelation, this plea might 
have been far more plausibly urged, if the state of the world 
without a revelation had never been exhibited to view. But the 
history of mankind, previous to the appearance of the >Son of 
God, evinces the expediency of a divine revelation ; and some 
of the wisest of the heathens were sensible of their need of 
such a blessing. 

The denial of the possibility of a revelation rerpiires no com- 
mon measure of effrontery : and an impartial review of the 
state of the world previous to the Christian dispensation must 
satisfy every candid and serious inquirer of the expediency of 
such a communication from heaven. Jesus Christ laid claim 
to the character of a teacher sent from God; and. if called 
upon to show his commission, instead of any abstract reason- 
ing, to which i'v\v would have attended, and which still fewer 
would have understood, he appealed to miracles, which mul- 
titudes could attest, and which force conviction equally on 



THE GOSPEL A MESSAGE FROM GOD. 197 

the untutored and on the cultivated mind ; or to predictions 
contained in well known books, written many ages before. 
We have already taken notice of his resurrection, and shall 
now shortly attend to his miracles, and the prophecies con- 
cerning him. 

1. The miracles performed by Jesus attest his divine mis- 
sion. 

We may consider a miracle as a transgression or suspen- 
sion of the established laws of nature. What those laws are, 
on any given subject, observation and experience must deter- 
mine ; and in some cases phenomena may occur, concerning 
which it may not be easy to decide whether they be miracu- 
lous or otherwise. In other instances there is no room for 
any doubt of this kind. The restoration of life to one really 
dead, giving sight to the blind, and health to the sick, instan- 
taneously, and by merely uttering a word, may, without doubt 
or hesitation, be pronounced miraculous. They are evidently 
out of the ordinary course of nature. 

I see no impossibility in miracles, either in a pl^sical or 
moral point of view. To talk of the unalterable constitution 
of nature is assuming everything. If the constitution of na- 
ture be unalterable, it must be so, either because the Creator 
is unable, or because he is unwilling to change it. That he 
is unable to change it is not true ; for, to suspend or to trans- 
gress the established laws of nature, cannot require a greater 
power than what was necessary for the establishment of those 
laws. We have already seen that an all-powerful Being con- 
structed the fabric of the universe, and it is obvious that he is 
able, at pleasure, either to suspend or to transgress the laws 
which he has established. We are not to conceive of mira- 
cles as intended to remedy any physical imperfection, any 
original or accidental defect in the system of nature, but as 
designed to manifest to the world the interposition of the Al- 
mighty for purposes of a moral kind; to prove to men that 
He addresses them. The general laws by which the world 
is governed were established for wise and good purposes ; 
and if, in any case, wise and good purposes can be served 
by a departure from them, what hinders the Creator from 
such a departure ? The laws are subject to the will of the 
Creator, and he may discover wisdom and goodness in occa- 
sional departure from them, as much as in varying and ac- 
commodating means to the accomplishment of ends in the ori- 
ginal constitution of the laws. 

That miracles are contrary to all experience is not true. 
To affirm it is a gratuitous assumption of the whole matter in 
17*- 



198 THE GOSPEL A MESSAGE FROM GOD. 

dispute. They are different from the experience of those 
only who have nol seen them; and we are never to set up our 
negative experience as the standard and measure of truth; 
for experience is only one source of knowledge. The kingot 
Siam refused to believe the Dutch ambassador, who told him 
that in his country water became so hard in cold weather that 
men walked upon it, and that it would bear even an elephant 
if he were there; but we know that water freezes. The South 
nders, when first visited by our circumnavigators, 
had no way of subjecting water to the action of fire, and had 
therefore no conception that water could burn them ; but they 
Learned the fact by painful experience. In like manner, al- 
though we have not seen miracles, this is no evidence that 
others have not seen them. 

From the very notion of a miracle, it must be something that 
seldom happens. What happens often, we have reason to 
think, happens according to a general law. A miracle, how- 
ever, is a deviation from the general law; it seldom happens, 
and consequently few, comparatively speaking, can be wit- 
nesses of it. The evidence necessary to prove miracles is of 
the same kind with what is necessary to prove any other 
matter of fact; the testimony of our own senses or the testi- 
mony of other men; and the proof is equally valid to all 
succeeding generations. In order to determine the truth of 
an event, it has been required that it be such as men's out- 
ward senses, their eyes and ears, may judge of; that it be 
done publicly in the face of the world ; and that there be 
memorials of it commencing from the time when the event 
happened. Events may have happened where all these 
circumstances do not meet ; but in cases where they 
all meet, no doubts can be entertained. All these marks 
apply to the miracles of Jesus. They were such as 
men's external senses could judge of. He instantaneously 
healed the sick and the lame, and opened the eyes of the 
blind; lie calmed the raging of the sea, and even raised the 
dead. Those miracles Jesus performed, not in a few instances 
only, or before a few individuals; not in the presence of 
friends and admirers merely : and not before the ignorant and 
credulous only: but he performed them frequently and pub- 
licly, and in the presence of promiscuous multitudes, many 
of whom were his most determined enemies, watching him 
with a jealous and malignant eye, scrutinizing every circum- 
stance, and ready to detect every fraud, if there had been any. 
Those hostile persons were the most enlightened men in the 
: nation, in an enlightened aire. 



THE GOSPEL A MESSAGE FROM GOD. 199 

The account of the miracles was published immediately, and 
in the places where they had been performed. Those mira- 
cles the most malignant enemies of Jesus, and they who had 
the best opportunities of examining the facts, never pretended 
to deny. They admitted them, because they were so deci- 
sively proved that there was no room left for the suspicion of 
deception. If they, then, who were present on the spot at 
the time, aiid had the best opportunities of investigating- all 
the circumstances connected with those miracles, found them- 
selves constrained to admit their truth ; and if, in this admis- 
sion, Celsus and Julian, and other early infidels agreed, it 
is with a bad grace that any in our days pretend to deny 
them. They must be admitted, unless we set aside entirely 
the evidence of historical testimony ; and when admitted we 
must account for them in the best way we can. The enemies 
of Jesus, finding themselves unable to deny the reality of his 
miracles, were reduced to the necessity of endeavouring to 
account for them, in a way consistent with their opinion, 
that he was not a teacher sent from God. To their account 
of the matter let us shortly attend; and, consider, first, 
Whether any being but God has the power of working mira- 
cles ; and, secondly, Whether the miracles of Jesus are such 
as wicked spirits would willingly concur in performing-. 

First, The power of working miracles, so far as we know 
or have any reason to believe, is inherent in God only. He 
established the laws of nature ; he still superintends the work- 
manship of his hands ; and we know of no power, but that to 
which the laws ■ of nature owe their origin, which can either 
transgress or suspend those laws. If we, therefore, find any 
agent at pleasure transgressing or suspending them, we are 
led to conclude that he acts under the authority, and is sup- 
ported by the power, of Him by whom the laws were esta- 
blished. Miracles are visible proofs of divine power, in ap- 
probation of him by whom they are performed. They are 
the seal of Heaven, and show the concurrence of the great 
Ruler of the universe. Accordingly, mankind have always 
acknowledged them as evidence of a divine mission. The 
Jew, who had received his sight, reasoned agreeably to the 
general sense of men of every age. " We know that God 
heareth not sinners : but if any man be a worshipper of God, 
and doeth his will, him he heareth. If this man were not of 
God, he could do nothing."* 

Second/i/, What are we to think of the allegation of those 

* John, ix. 31, 33. 



200 THE GOSPEL A MESSAGE FROM GOD. 

Jews who ascribed the miracles of Jesus to the agency of 
wicked spirits. That such beings exist in the universe is no 
unreasonable supposition; ami revelation informs us of the 
fact. Free agents of a much higher order than man may- 
abuse their liberty, and may pervert and misapply their fa- 
culties to mischievous purposes. The devil and his angels 
do so. But we have no reason to believe that they are able 
to disturb the laws of nature in their operation, or to prevent 
their effects. We have no evidence whatever that any crea- 
ture, either good or bad, has power to suspend the laws of 
nature, without the authority of Him by whom those laws 
were established. No good being would make the attempt 
for a bad purpose ; no bad being would do so for a good pur- 
pose. Now, the doctrine of Jesus was so pure and heavenly, 
that no evil spirit would have attempted anything for its con- 
firmation. Here the external and the internal evidences of 
the gospel mutually support each other. If depraved beings 
had exerted their power for the confirmation of the doctrine 
of Jesus, their empire would have been divided against itself, 
and must have fallen into ruin. The supposition that the 
miracles of Jesus were done by ma<jic will obtain lio credit 
in our day. and therefore need not detain us. The most zeal- 
ous infidel will not venture to allege it; as even the gross 
credulity of his brethren would not receive it. 

There are no phenomena, either in the natural or in the 
moral world, that countenance the supposition of any creature 
whatever being permitted to work miracles for the purpose 
of deceiving and misleading the children of men, without the 
evidence resulting from their operations being destroyed by- 
superior evidence. The wise men of Egypt wrought mira- 
cles, or the semblance of miracles ; but they were defeated 
by the superior power of .Moses and Aaron, and obliged to 
confess that the finger of God was displayed in the works 
which the Hebrew sages performed. Considering all these 
things, it appears to us that the reasoning of Nicodemus, and 
the appeals of Jesus, are unanswerable. "Rabbi, we know 
that thou art a teacher come from God ; for no man can do 
these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." 1 
" Though ye believe not me, believe the works ; that ye may 
know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in him."* 

2. Prophecy is the prediction of future and contingent 
events. It is a kind of miracle; and has a relation to the 



John, hi. 2. — x. 38. 



THE GOSPEL A MESSAGE FROM GOD. 201 

knowledge of God, as the miracles which we have been con- 
sidering have to his power. The one is the work of Omni- 
science, the other of Omnipotence. Miracles of power con- 
vince at once, and, after being properly authenticated, their 
evidence always remains the same. Prophecy is no evidence 
of a divine mission at the time of its delivery, for we know 
not whether the prediction will be fulfilled. It becomes evi- 
dence only when it begins to receive its completion ; and, 
when it relates to different events, the evidence resulting from 
it gradually becomes stronger till the whole be accomplished. 
The foresight of man is very limited. When a person of 
sagacity, who has had many opportunities of observation, 
and much experience of human affairs, sees matters in a cer- 
tain train, he can, in many instances, with no inconsiderable 
degree of precision, foretell what the issue will be. But this 
foresight is circumscribed by narrow boundaries, and even 
within those boundaries it is liable to no small uncertainty. 
Some unforeseen accident may intervene, disturb the course of 
events, break the chain of connexion, and produce results dif- 
ferent from those which were expected. 

God, we may reasonably presume, is the only Being in the 
universe who perceives with certainty the future actions of 
free agents, and the remote consequences of all those laws of 
nature which he himself has established. Here we remark, 
that it is a gross abuse to argue from the divine prescience 
against the freedom of man. We may not be able clearly to 
reconcile them ; and yet it may not follow that God is not 
omniscient, nor yet that man is not free. We have no good 
reason to believe that there is any incompatibility between 
the two. The whole difficulty of reconciling them lies in 
our incapacity. Of the divine omniscience we know but little, 
and in every case where any of the premises rest on our igno- 
rance or incapacity, our conclusions may be very illogical. 
Prophecy, therefore, and the prescience of God, cannot logi- 
cally be adduced as evidences against the freedom of man. 
Assuming it as a principle thai God only foresees future, dis- 
tant, and. contingent events, it follows, that if we find any 
person predicting such events, and see those events happen- 
ing agreeably to the prediction, we are authorized to conclude 
that the person was inspired by God, and employed in his 
service. In the sacred records, there are many predictions, 
on different subjects, which prove those who uttered them to 
have been under the influence of divine inspiration. But it 
is those which relate more immediately to Jesus, that at pre- 
sent engage our attention. They may be considered as of 



202 THE GOSPEL A MESSAGE PROM GOD. 

two kinds; first, those which foretold his advent; secondly, 
those which he himself delivered. 

Of the first kind, we have not merely a few detached pre- 
dictions of local, individual, and temporary interest, like the 
; but a great systi m of prophecy, delivered at 
dist.ni! pi riods through a long succession of ages, all point- 
ing to the same person, and foretelling the same events. 
:ies are not of a doubtful origin or ambiguous 
meaning. They are authentic and unmutilated records, which 
for many ages had been well known to the Jewish nation; and 
all the learned among that ancient people considered those 
predictions as foretelling the appearance of an illustrious per- 
sonage, and a great revolution which he was to accomplish. 
Those predictions, like the morning light, gradually became 
clearer as the fulness of time approached ; and they all termi- 
nate on Jesus, and receive their accomplishment in him. The 
family from which he was to spring, the place of his nativity, 
the time of his appearance, the works he was to perform, the 
sufferings he was to endure, and the nature and progress of 
his kingdom, were all the subjects of ancient prophecy. Those 
predictions had reached the ears, and attracted the notice of the 
Gentile world ; and even heathen historians inform us that a 
general belief prevailed among oriental nations, that about 
that time a mighty prince was to appear m Judea. When we 
compare those° predictions with the history of Jesus of Na- 
zareth, we perceive such a correspondence between them, as 
constrains us to apply the predictions to him only, and to say, 
"This is he who was to come." 

The predictions of Jesus himself bear a clear testimony to 
his divine character and mission. We have already seen 
that he foretold his own death and resurrection. The pre- 
diction was astonishing; its fulfilment is decisive evidence 
of his mission. We shall mention only one more of his pre- 
dictions ; that relating to the destruction of Jerusalem. It is 
d by the evangelist Matthew, in his twenty-fourth 
chapter. We have there an account of many minute circum- 
stances that were to precede the siege, and that were to hap- 
pen in its progress; and we have the dreadful catastrophe 
itself. The prediction was uttered at a time, and in circum- 
stances, when no human sagacity could have foreseen the 
the calamitous event; and all, even the most minute circum- 
stances of the prophecy, were exactly fulfilled. " The testi- 
mony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." 

3. The character of Him in whom so many prophecies 
unite, and who performed so many miracles, is entitled to our 



THE GOSPEL A MESSAGE FROM GOD. 203 

attentive contemplation. It does not belie his claims, as the 
Son of God and the Captain of Salvation. It is the noblest, 
the most amiable and consistent character that is an}' where 
exhibited to ns, either in the page of history or in the fictions 
of imagination. It is strongly marked by soundness of judg- 
ment, excellency of temper, and purity of morals. He dis- 
played too much wisdom for a fanatic; too much virtue for 
an impostor. A majestic simplicity, fervent piety, integrity, 
candour, benevolence, temperance, meekness, and patience, 
all unice their charms, and shine with harmonious lustre in 
the character of Jesus of Nazareth. A devout veneration of 
God, and a dutiful regard to every divine command, appear 
throughout the whole of his conduct. His heart was often 
poured out in prayer to his Father. He delighted in the Sab- 
bath and in the Sanctuary. To do the will of Him who sent 
him was his constant study and supreme ambition. With 
him there was no bustling parade, no vain ostentation.; all 
was sincere piety, and unaffected benevolence. 

While his piety was free from superstition, from local or 
temporary prejudices, and from illiberal sentiments, benigni- 
ty reigned in his heart, beamed on his countenance, and re- 
gulated his conduct. He was the friend of the friendless ; the 
shield of those who had none to help them. He did not break 
the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax. He cherished 
every sentiment of humanity, and every aspiration after virtue. 
He was indefatigable in doing good to the souls and to the bo- 
dies of men ; and in his labour of love, he persevered in spite 
of difficulties, calumny, and persecution. Active benevolence, 
patient fortitude, meek forbearance, and a forgiving disposi- 
tion, were prominent features in his character. He was tem- 
perate, humble, and holy. His life is a perfect model of the 
fervour of devotion, and the dignity of virtue. Can there 
exist, for a moment, a suspicion that a person of such a sound 
understanding was himself deceived, or that such exalted 
virtue was concerned in imposture 1 ? It is impossible. The 
character of Jesus vouches the divinity of his mission, and 
the truth of his doctrine. What he enjoins on others, he him- 
self practised. If his followers be called upon to walk in 
an arduous path, they are cheered by the sight of their Mas- 
ter proceeding in it steadily before them. In striving to obey 
his precepts, they are guided and encouraged by his ex- 
ample. 

4. The doctrine of Jesus bears testimony to his character 
as a teacher sent from God. We assume it as a principle, 
that a revelation from God cannot contain anything contrary 



204 THE GOSPEL A MESSAGE FROM GOD. 

to sound reason; for both reason and revelation are the gift 
of God, and they are both bestowed upon us tor the regula- 
tion of our hearts and lives. It were absurd to imagine that 
God has subjected us to two different and contrary t< achere. 
He may subject us to two teachers, tin- one of which may 
communicate more information than the other; but there 
must be a eongruity between them, so that by the lessons of 
our first instructer we may be able to judge of the truth and 
importance of the communications made to us by the second. 
Reason, as Bishop Butler has observed, is the only faculty 
we have wherewith to judge of anything, even revelation itself. 

Revelation may inform us of truths which reason could 
never have discovered, or enjoin precepts which the dictates 
of nature do not teach us to observe. For example, it may 
inform us how transgressors of the divine law may obtain par- 
don and favour, or it may enjoin a particular time or manner 
of offering up our homage to God; points on which reason 
could not have made any certain discovery. Revelation may 
contain truths which our limited capacity cannot fully com- 
prehend ; and in this it will only harmonize with creation. 
In both we may perceive the same grandeur, am! meet with 
similar difficulties. But these difficulties, instead of forming 
any solid objection against either, seem only to intimate that 
nature and. revelation have a common Author. Our partial 
ignorance is a spur to attentive observation, and diligent in- 
quiry. 

While a revelation from God may contain truths which 
reason could never have discovered, or which our limited ca- 
pacity cannot fully comprehend, it can contain nothing con- 
trary to sound and unperverted reason: it must agree with 
the intellectual and moral perceptions of our mi tare. The 
doctrine of Jesus has this grand test of a divine revelation. 
It is consonant to the moral constitution of the human mind, 
and is in full accordance with the phenomena of the natural 
world, it decides what was doubtful, elucidates what was 
obscure, and imparts a new efficacy to what was formerly be- 
lieved. It dispels tin; clouds which hung over the perfec- 
tions and governmenl of God, ami gives a luminous view of 
the nature, state, duties, and prospects of man. 

Mankind have always been conscious of the imperfection 
of their virtue, have been sensible of their guilt, and have 
had recourse to sacrificial expiations. The gospel teaches 
us that we have lost our native glory, labour under great mo- 
ral disease, and are obnoxious to the penal visitations of the 
Almighty : it also teaches us that our heavenly Father, who 



THE GOSPEL A MESSAGE FROM GOD. 205 

with unwearied wisdom and goodness governs the universe, 
has mercifully devised a plan for our recovery ; that he vouch- 
safes all needful aid to those who are earnestly desirous of 
treading in the paths of virtue; that he has provided a perfect 
propitialion for the sins of the world ; and that they who 
make a wise and diligent improvement of the talents intrust- 
ed to their care shall be nobly rewarded, whereas they who 
neglect or abuse those talents shall be fearfully punished. It 
explicitly teaches the doctrine of immortality and future re- 
tribution, of which the human mind had always entertained 
some conception. In short, while it establishes a sublime 
faith, and a simple and spiritual worship, it inculcates an 
equitable and benevolent system of morals, which it enforces 
by the most exalted ana awful sanctions. Some of these 
truths we shall afterwards more fully consider. 

To be duly sensible of the excellency of the gospel, we 
must not forget the state of religion throughout the world 
when Jesus appeared. The nations professing themselves to 
be wise had become fools. They were wandering in dark- 
ness, and sitting in the shadow of death. With the excep- 
tion of the Jews, polytheism universally prevailed. Among 
the multitude of deities which the heathen worshipped, there 
was not one irradiated with the attributes of purity, benevo- 
lence, and mercy: they were all capricious, selfish, revenge- 
ful. The faith of the nations was for the most part error ; 
their practice for the most part vice. Even among the He- 
brews, who enjoyed the lively oracles of God, religion was 
greatly corrupted. It was disfigured by vain traditions, and 
loaded with superstitious observances. But from the midst 
of this universal gloom the Sun of Righteousness burst forth 
with healing in his rays. By the breath of his mouth Jesus 
dissipated the clouds of error and delusion ; he chased away 
the multitude of fictitious divinities that had usurped the em- 
pire of the moral world, and taught mankind to adore and 
obey one God, the Creator, Governor, and Judge of the uni- 
verse. Instead of placing religion in rites and ceremonies, 
in gaudy pageants and costly sacrifices, he taught that we 
are to testify our reverence for God by living soberly, righ- 
teously, and piously, in the world. What a noble and ra- 
tional view of religion does Jesus exhibit! How instructive, 
encouraging, and consolatory ! His doctrine is adapted to 
the wants, the fears, and the hopes of man. And are we to 
suppose that a poor illiterate Jew, attended by a few ignorant 
and obscure fishermen from the Lake Tiberias, without su- 
pernatural aid, soared so far above the loftiest conceptions of 
18 



206 THE GOSPEL A MESSAGE FROM GOD. 

the most illustrious sages of the heathen world, taught les- 
sons of wisdom and virtue to which even Socrates would 
have listened with admiration and delight, and brought about 
a revolution in the opinions and practice of men, which the 
most enlightened philosophers could never accomplish, nor 
even conceive ! 

Considering these several arguments of which we have 
shortly taken notice, miracles, prophecy, the character of 
Jesus, and the excellence of the gospel, it must appear to 
every candid and serious mind, that the claims of Jesus as a 
teacher sent from God are well founded; that it is our duty 
to listen to him as the Ambassador of Heaven, and to follow 
him as the Captain of Salvation. If any complain that the 
evidence on this subject is not so decisive as it might have 
been, we reply that revelation is a moral plan for exercising 
our faculties and trying our dispositions. Its evidence is 
sufficiently clear, to give rational encouragement to hope, and 
excitement to duty. The design of the gospel is not to over- 
power our understanding by irresistible and compulsory evi- 
dence, but to afford such reasonable proof as is sufficient to 
satisfy moral inquirers, who are endued with faculties to 
perceive the truth, but who at, the same time have power to 
resist it, and finally to forfeit all its blessings. Neither rea- 
son nor revelation force men to submit to their authority : both 
of them teach the lessons of truth, and point out the path of 
virtue, showing what we are to avoid and what to pursue, 
with the consequences of each. But they leave us to act as 
we please, after communicating this information and giving 
this warning. 

If the evidence of the gospel had been irresistible and com- 
pulsory, it would not have harmonized with the other phe- 
nomena connected with our present state, and would have 
been unsuitable to a scheme of moral agency and final retri- 
bution. If we introduce irresistibility and compulsion ; if we 
render it impossible to disbelieve and disobey, we destroy 
moral government, virtue and vice, reward and punishment. 
Bishop Butler has stated, that objections against Christianity, 
as distinguished from objections against its evidences, are in 
a great measure frivolous. And this is unquestionably true 
in considering the analogy between natural and revealed reli- 
gion ; for if the evidence of revelation be satisfactory, this 
places it on the same level with creation ; and if the difficul- 
ties be similar, then revelation is not more liable to objection 
than nature. In the construction of the Universe, and in the 
scheme of Providence, as well as in our holy Christianity. 



HARMONY OF NATURE AND REVELATION. 207 

the plan of the Almighty is extensive, and contains some 
things hard to be cnwiwstood hy us. Neither in nature nor 
in revelation can we minutely trace every step of the Divine 
procedure, and distinctly show how everything harmonizes 
in promoting the perfection of one great whole. But it is not 
rationally to be expected that such limited beings as we are 
should fully comprehend the works and ways of Him who is 
infinite. 



CHAPTER II. 

HARMONY OF NATURE AND REVELATION. 

We have seen that Jesus Christ is the prophet of the church, 
commissioned by the Father to reveal his will to the children 
of men, consequently there can be no dispute about any doc- 
trine in the Bible. It is the province of reason to weigh the 
evidences of revelation, and to ascertain the meaning oi' what 
it contains ; but after this is accomplished there is no longer 
any room for doubt: it is our duty to believe and obej r . 
Listening to Jesus as a teacher sent from God, let us attend 
to the account which he gives of the perfections and govern- 
ment of Him by whom he was sent. 

Jesus Christ, like his servants the prophets and apostles, 
assumes the existence of the Almighty as a first principle ; 
a truth too obvious to be denied, too interesting to be forgot- 
ten, and too important to be neglected. They address us with 
the solemnity and authority of the ambassadors of heaven, 
speaking in the name, and delivering the message of the Uni- 
versal Sovereign. Occasionally, indeed, they glance at the 
proofs of his existence from creation and providence ; but 
they do so rather incidentally than in a didactic manner: they 
state the argument, but do not dwell upon it. "The heavens 
declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his 
handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto 
night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language 
where their voice is not heard." " For the invisible things 
of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being 
understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power 
and Godhead." "He left not himself without witness, in 
that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful 
seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." In these 



208 HARMONY OF NATURE AND REVELATION. 

passages our attention is turned to the argument from crea- 
tion and providence in prnof of tl,, Being or Uod. On this 
argument, however, the inspired writers do not enlarge; for 
their object was not to prove his existence, but to give evi- 
dence that they were his servants, commissioned by him to 
instruct his children. The gospel, then, is called not as a 
witness to the Being of < tod, for that it assumes; but to bear 
testimony concerning his attributes and government, his will 
and our duty. The representation ofhis perfections given in 
the Scriptures agrees with the draught exhibited in creation, 
and (ills up the picture of the Divine portrait consistently with 
the grand outline sketched by the pencil of Nature. 

1. Nature proclaims the Deity to be powerful, wise, and 
good ; and with this proclamation revelation agrees. The 
Scripture character of God is worthy of the Universal Parent, 
who there appears in an attitude that must at once excite 
veneration, and conciliate affection. He is " the King eternal, 
immortal, invisible, the only wise God, the Creator of the ends 
of the earth, who fainteth not, neither is weary." At his 
command the stupendous fabric of the universe rose into exis- 
tence. He said, " Let there be light, and there was light :" 
he spread out the heavens as a curtain; and formed this lower 
world in the hollow of his hand, giving breath to them that 
are upon it, and spirit to them that dwell therein. He is the 
former of our bodies, and the father of our spirits ; his inspi- 
ration gives us understanding. But he is not a being of mere 
power. He does not wield the thunderbolt in an arbitrary 
and capricious manner; nor with ruthless fury crush under 
his omnipotent arm those who have inadvertently transgress- 
ed his laws, or even justly incurred his high displeasure. He 
is an affectionate Parent ; a wise, equitable, and gracious 
Sovereign. Benignity irradiates his countenance, impartial 
goodness pervades the whole of his administration, and con- 
summate wisdom directs the operations of his mighty power 
In him the rigour of justice is softened by the tender yearn- 
ings of mercy. He is holy and hates sin ; but he pities the 
wanderings, and sympathizes with the afflictions of his ra- 
tional and erring offspring. He is k> in Christ, reconciling the 
world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto 
them." 

2. Nature shows us that the Creater upholds and rules the 
world. This doctrine is confirmed by the Holy Scriptures, 
which throw a clear light on the administration of the Al- 
mighty, and represent him as governing all his creatures, and 
all their actions. The Lord preserves man and beast: his 



HARMONY OF NATURE AND REVELATION. 209 

kingdom rules over all : he reigns in the armies of heaven, 
and among the inhabitants of the earth. Nothing is so great 
as to resist his power; nothing so minute as to escape his 
notice. His vigilant eye is continually upon every province 
of his mighty empire : we can nowhere go from his presence, 
or flee from his spirit. All nature is under his direction and 
control : summer and winter, seed-time and harvest regularly 
return ; day and night continually succeed each other, and 
the moon with unwearied constancy travels in her appointed 
course. The just and the unjust equally enjoy the advantages 
of this constitution. 

The Lord employs the elements to accomplish the purposes 
of his will. He makes the winds his messengers, and causes 
the flaming fire to act in his service. He covers the heavens 
with clouds, prepares rain for the earth, makes grass to grow 
on the mountain, and clothes the plain with luxuriant crops : 
the eyes of all things wait upon him, and he gives them their 
food in due season. When he sees meet, he makes " the 
heavens brass, and the earth iron," and sends " cleanness of 
teeth" to a sinful people in all their borders. He poured the 
waters of the flood upon an impenitent world, and rained fire 
and brimstone on the guilt)' inhabitants of Sodom and Go- 
morrah ; but it is comfortable to know that the righteous Noah 
was saved from the deluge, and that an angel led Lot beyond 
the limits of the devoted cities. 

The elements, however, are not the only instruments of 
his providence. He can make the locust or the worm, as 
well as the winged seraph, execute judgment against a sin- 
ful nation. Without infringing free agency, he can influence 
his people ; and permit, check, or defeat the counsels of men, 
making them subservient to the accomplishment of purposes 
which they never intended. He causes even the wrath of 
man to praise him, and the remainder of that wrath he re- 
strains. War, and famine, and pestilence, are in his hand, 
and he can employ them to execute his will. He often bears 
long with a guilty people, warns and admonishes them ; but 
if they disregard the alarmsof judgment and turn a deaf ear to 
the invitations of mercy ; if they still continue obstinate in 
sin, he gives them up to the perversity of their own hearts, 
and the vanity of their own imaginations, sajdng, Let them 
alone, let them fill up their cup, the hour of retribution will 
come. When the ways of a nation please the Lord, he makes 
even their enemies to be at peace with them, and joy and 
plenty are in their dwellings. 

His providential care extends to individuals as well as na- 
18* 



210 HARMONY OF NATURE AND RF.VKLATIOX. 

tions. " Tlie very liairs of our head are all numbered." If 
we acknowledge him in our ways, he will direct our steps. 
He may subject us to trials, but it is to improve our hearts ; 
and we will not go unrewarded. Joseph long pined inobscurity 
and bondage ; but he was afterwards exalted. Job was se- 
verely tried ; but he bore all with patient fortitude and pious 
resignation, and his latter end was more prosperous than his 
beginning. On the other hand had men are not unfrequently 
subjected to penal visitations, and their own minds execute 
a terrible judgment against th'in. I'nder the reproaches of 
a guilty conscience, Cain was a miserable fugitive and vaga- 
bond on the earth; and the condemnation of his own heart 
made the treacherous Judas precipitate himself to his place. 
Angels also are the instruments of Providence ; they are the 
" ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall 
be heirs of salvation." 

The righteous government of God discountenances all sin, 
and encourages rectitude of heart and life : it accomplishes 
wise ends by the best means, and neither wicked spirits nor 
wicked men can defeat the purposes of the Almighty. The 
workers of iniquity may tremble at the holy administration of 
the Most High, for a retributive Providence watches over hu- 
man affairs; and although for awhile the wicked may flourish 
like the green bay tree, yet, sooner or later, judgment, like 
the whirlwind of the desert, will overtake them. The faith- 
ful, however, may rejoice that they are under an Omnipotent 
Protector, for the righteous Lord loveth righteousness ; with 
a pleasant countenance he beholdeth the upright, and will 
make all things work together for the good of them that love 
him. 

3. The Scriptures inform us that man, by the abuse of his 
freedom, has fallen into a state of moral disease, and is a 
transgressor of the divine law. This truth is taught by the 
voice of nature, and has been generally acknowledged by the 
human race. Hence, in almost every nation, the priest, the 
victim, and the altar present themselves to our view ; but the 
unenlightened worshipper was utterly uncertain whether his 
services were accepted, and his sins forgiven. Accordingly 
we hear him in painful perplexity exclaiming, " Wherewith 
shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the 
high God? Shall 1 come before him with burnt offerings, 
with calves of a year old 1 Will the Lord be pleased with 
thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil 1 
Shall 1 give my ftrst-borfl for my transgression, the fruit of 
my body for the sin of my soul'?" Sacrificial expiations were 



HARMONY OF NATURE AND REVELATION. 211 

admitted by divine authority into the Patriarchal and Mosaic 
dispensations. Under the law the priest officiated daily at 
the altar, offering sacrifices for his own sins, and for the sins 
of the people. These sacrifices expiated transgressions, of 
the peculiar laws of the theocracy, and entitled to a life in the 
land of Canaan ; but their value extended no farther. "It is 
not possible that blood of bulls and of goats should take away 
sins :" they derived all their saving efficacy from the great 
atonement which they prefigured. 

The fallen state of man, recognized by nature, and ac- 
knowledged in the Jewish Scriptures, is clearly taught in 
the gospel; sometimes in plain, but more frequently in figura- 
tive language. We are represented as wandering sheep which 
have strayed from the fold, and are in danger of perishing; as 
sleeping, and unconscious of the perils with which we are 
surrounded ; as blind, and not seeing the path which we ought 
to pursue; as sick and diseased ; yea, dead in trespasses and 
sins. The law, originally engraven on our hearts by the fin- 
ger of God, is partially effaced, but not obliterated: our fa- 
culties are weakened and disordered, but not destroyed nor 
wholly perverted ; " for when the Gentiles, which have not 
the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, 
these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves ; which 
show the work of the law written in their hearts, their con- 
science also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean- 
while accusing or else excusing one another." Whatever be 
the nature of our malady, the gospel reveals a remedy of suita- 
ble extent and efficacy. Jesus appears in characters adapted 
to our necessities. If we be guilty, his blood cleanses from 
all sin : if we be weak, his grace is sufficient for us, his 
strength is perfected in our weakness. He is a shepherd to 
bring us back from our wanderings, and to recover us when 
lost : he stands knocking and calling to awaken us from our 
slumbers : he has eye-salve to anoint our eyes that we may 
see : he is a physician to heal our diseases : he has power to 
quicken us when dead, and restore us to life. In order, how- 
ever, to reap these advantages we must be diligent in impro- 
ving the talents intrusted to our care ; for Jesus acts towards 
us as rational and accountable creatures. The wandering 
sheep must listen to the voice of the shepherd, and follow 
him ; the sleeper, when he hears the alarm at the door, must 
not fold his arms in sluggish indolence, and cry, "yet a lit- 
tle sleep, a little slumber ;" he must arise and be active : the 
sick must observe and obey the prescriptions of the physi- 
cian. 



212 HARMONY OF NATTRE AND REVELATION'. 

The Scriptures exhibit God as a being- of immaculate holi- 
ness, impartial justice, unsearchable wisdom, and boundless 
goodness. Of these attributes, the mission of Christ, the 
great tact revealed in the gospel, is a brilliant illustration. 
From sovereign grace the Father sent his only begotten Son, 
who is one with himself, "the brightness of his glory, and 
the express image of his person;" he sent him to take part of 
flesh and blood, "thai through death he might destroy him 
that had the power of death, and deliver them who through 
dean were all their lifetime subject to bondage ;'' he 
sent him to hear our sins in his own body on the tree, to re- 
concile his offending children to himself, to demonstrate his 
detestation of sin, and, at the same time, encourage them to 
trust in his mercy, walk in his way, cherish those disposi- 
tions of mind, and pursue that course of action which he pre- 
scribes, in order that they may grow up in a meetness for a 
happy immortality. 

The mission of Jesus is a dispensation which we cannot at 
present fully comprehend, and of which it becomes us to speak 
with reverence and awe. All the purposes which it serves 
in the moral government of God, who can explain? It may 
teach great lessons to different orders of beings, and affect 
the iii! crests of others besides the human race. The vast range 
of its efficacy may extend far beyond our limited conceptions. 
It awakens the curiosity and increases the knowledge even of 
angels. It is the benevolent purpose of God, "in the dispen- 
sation of the fulness of times, to gather together in one all 
things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on 
earth, even in him :" " And to make all men see what is the 
fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the 
world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus 
Christ: To the intent that now, unto the principalities and 
powers in heavenly places, might be known by the church 
the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose 
which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.*' "For it 
I the Father, that in him should all fulness dwell ; and. 
having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to 
reconcile all things unto himself; whether they lie things in 
earth, or things in heaven." But although our knowledge of 
this dispensation is limited and partial, there are several great 
truths connected with it which we may in some measure un- 
derstand. These truths ought to engage our attention, make 
a deep impression on our minds, and have a powerful influ- 
ence on our lives. 

First, The mission and death of Jesus are a striking illus- 



HARMONY OF NATURE AND REVELATION. 213 

tration of the divine nature and government; they form avast 
scheme for maintaining the honour of God's perfections in 
extending mercy to the guilty, and are designed to teach great 
lessons concerning his righteous administration. He set 
forth Christ, " to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, 
to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are 
past through the forbearance of God ; that he might be just 
and the justifier of him which believethin Jesus." This dis- 
pensation is expressive of holiness, and wisdom, and good- 
ness. These attributes? are intimated by the voice of nature, 
and plainly taught in the law ; for the constitution of the na- 
tural world and of the human mind supports a moral govern- 
ment, and the divine law bears strongly on the same point, 
forbidding sin, encouraging righteousness, and being wisely 
and graciously fitted for preparing us for a more exalted state 
of existence. The violation of the law is dishonouring and 
displeasing to God, as it expresses a disregard of his sove- 
reign authority, and tends to defeat his gracious purposes to- 
wards us. Hence wisdom and goodness, as well as holiness, 
are concerned in maintaining its honour. A wise legislator 
supports the dignity of his enactments b)r suitable expres- 
sions of his displeasure on occasion of their violation; and 
the great interposition revealed in the gospel is a plan for 
maintaining the glory of the Divine administration in pardon- 
ing the guilty. 

Whether God, considered as an absolute sovereign, could 
have forgiven sin without any satisfaction, it does not belong 
to us to inquire. It is enough to know, that he has declared 
he would not do so ; for, if he had done so, men might have 
imagined that he was a being of mere mercy; that the benig- 
nity of his nature would always triumph over his justice and 
holiness ; and that he would never inflict punishment on 
transgressors. Iniquity, like an overflowing torrent, would 
have deluged the Avorld, and ruin must inevitably have over- 
taken our race. But the death of Christ, as an atonement for 
sin, corrects such false ideas, and has a strong tendency to 
prevent the fatal operation of such misconceptions. We see 
the only begotten Son of the Father, when the iniquities of 
us all were laid upon him, suffering deep humiliation and 
unspeakable agony ; but he triumphantly accomplished the 
blessed work given him to do. His sacrifice is as excellent 
as our sins are heinous ; his atonement is commensurate with 
our guilt ; his blood taketh away sin, has put an end to vica- 
rious expiations, and brought in an everlasting righteousness. 
His offering- was of a sweet smelling 1 savour to the Most 



214 HARMONY OF NATURE AND REVELATION. 

High, who saw tlr.it by it his administration was vindicated 
in the Bight of nil his rational offspring. This dispensation 
clearly shows, that though God is merciful, yet that he is 
not merciful only, but that he is just and faithful, and holy 
also ; and that all his attributes are harmoniously exercised 
in the administration of his government. A wonderful provi- 
sion is made for the pardon of sin. for deterring from iniquity, 
and for encouraging rectitude of hearl and life. By the gra- 
cious operation of his Spirit. Jesus renews his people, and 
works in them " both to will and to do of his good pi 
As he was delivered for our offences, and raised for our justi- 
cation, so he is exalted as a Prince and a Saviour to give 
repentance and remission of sins, and to carry on to a Li'lori- 
ous consummation the blessed enterprise in which he is en- 
gaged. 

Secondly, The death of Christ is a powerful means of re- 
conciling us to God, of assuring us of his love, of winning 
our confidence, our affection, and our obedience. Man before 
his fall loved and trusted the Creator ; but when he sinned, 
he became conscious of guilt and apprehensive of punish- 
ment; fear, suspicion, and distrust, took possession of his 
mind. Adam in innocence listened to his Maker with delight ; 
but, on his disobedience, a melancholy change took place. 
He no longer heard the voice of God with joy, he no longer 
hastened to meet him, but anxiously sought concealment. 
This is a true picture of the state of fallen man, and its im- 
age is reflected from every breast. Now, the death of Christ 
is an amazing dispensation for banishing that fear, suspicion, 
and distrust of Cod, which consciousness of guilt inspires. 
Here we see the countenance of our heavenly Father beam- 
ing with benignity ; we see him manifesting inexpressible 
love to his prodigal children, and we hear his voice, in 
accents of lively compassion, inviting them to return to the 
bosom of his family, and share the provision and protection 
of the dutiful members of his household. Such a representa- 
tion of the divine character is well calculated to cast out our 
fear, win our love, and secure our confidence and obedience. In 
this point of view the death of Christ is held up by the Apos- 
tle : " All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to him- 
self by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of 
reconciliation ; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling 
the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto 
them ; and hath committed to us the word of reconciliation. 
Now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God 
did beseech you by us : we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye 



HARMONY OF NATURE AND REVELATION. 215 

reconciled to God." Attend to the argument which the 
sacred writer employs to encourage the reconciliation, " For 
he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ; 
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 
God has thus given the clearest proof, the most affecting de- 
monstration of his love ; and shall not we, then, be constrain- 
ed to love and to obey him 1 If his mercy fail to produce 
these effects, must not every other motive prove unavailing ? 
On the divine benignity the faithful and pious worshipper 
may place the most steady reliance, for " He that spared not 
his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he 
not with him also freely give us all things ?" 

4. All the precepts of Christianity are agreeable to the dic- 
tates of a sound mind ; and its promises are happily fitted to 
calm the troubles of the human heart. The system of nature 
supports a moral government, and the doctrines and precepts 
of the gospel have a direct moral tendency. The Scriptures 
give clearer and fuller views of duty than what could be 
learned from the volume of creation, and enforce the dis- 
charge of what is incumbent upon us by the most powerful 
motives. From the perversity of their hearts, men are often 
inclined to lay the chief stress on external rites and ceremo- 
nial observances ; but the gospel teaches us that no ritual 
worship can be pleasing to God, without holiness of heart 
and life ; and that justice, mercy, and faithfulness, are indis- 
pensable matters of the law. Everything in the religion of 
Jesus, whether we consider the dispositions which it recom- 
mends, or the conduct which it enjoins, promotes the welfare 
of the individual and of society. In proportion to their obe- 
dience to his precepts will be the happiness of mankind ; for 
in proportion to this obedience will they discharge with 
fidelity all the duties incumbent upon them in the several 
relations of life. If men generally cherished the same mind 
that was in Christ ; if they were just and merciful, meek and 
holy, what a different picture would the world present from 
what it now exhibits ! How incalculably would the sum of 
human happiness be increased ! The beneficial influence 
of Christianity proves its suitableness to our nature, and 
strongly recommends it to our regard. 

The rites of our holy religion are few and simple ; Baptism 
and the Lord's Supper. It also sanctions the observance of 
one day in seven as sacred to the worship of God. 

Even the heathens were sensible that no man could stea- 
dily pursue a virtuous course without aid from on high ; but 
if the Christian, on contemplating the extent of his duty, is 



216 HARMONY OF NATURE AND REVELATION. 

leady in despondency to exclaim, " "Who is sufficient for 
these things!" he is encouraged by a voice from heaven, say- 
ing, •• F( ur thou not, foi 1 am with thee; be not dismayed, 

for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help 
thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my 
righteousm ss." •• Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and 
ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for 
everyone thai asketh, receiveth ; and he that seeketh, find- 
eth ; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. If a son 
ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a 
stone ? or it* he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a ser- 
pent? or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 
It ye, then, being evil, know bow to give good gifts unto 
your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father 
give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" The Holy 
Spirit enlightens, comforts, strengthens, and guides the peo- 
ple of God on their way to the better country. 

5. The immortality of the soul, as we have already seen, 
has engaged the attention of men in every age, and been 
recognized by people of every kindred and tongue. Many 
clouds, however, seemed to hang over this great truth, and to 
damp the fond aspirations of nature. But it' on this interest- 
ing subject the torch of reason shines with a dubious ray. the 
bright beam of revelation dispels the darkness. Jesus hath 
made light and immortality clear through the gospel ; he con- 
firms the consoling doctrine by new evidence, and sheds 
around it a glorious and animating splendour. Amid all the 
vicissitudes of life, the faithful are comforted with the pros- 
pect of joining an innumerable company of angels, and the 
spirits of just men made perfect, when they have finished 
their pilgrimage in this world. The gospel not only teaches 
the immortality of the soul, but also the resurrection of the 
body ; a point on which the voice of nature is silent. 

Lastly, The gospel informs us of a judgment to come, and 
a state of final retribution ; truths which the heathen 
nized : but Jesus sets them clearly bi fore us in majestic gra.i- 
deur, and awful solemnity. The Lord shall come in his own 
glory, in the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels ; the 
living shall be changed, and those who are in their graves 
shall hear the voice of the Son of .Man. and shall come 
forth. '-God hath appointed a clay, in the which he will 
judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath 
ordained ; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in 
that he bath raised him from the dead." " And 1 saw a great 
white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the 



OUR DUTY TO GOD. 217 

earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no 
place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand 
before God : and the books were opened; and another book 
was opened, which is the book of life : and the dead were 
judged out of those things which were written in the books, 
according to their works." The wicked shall be for ever 
banished from the presence of the Lord, and consigned to the 
place of punishment; but the righteous, under the conquer- 
ing banners of the Captain of Salvation, shall rise in triumph 
to the city of the living God, where through eternity they 
shall rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. 

Thus, the gospel greatly enlarges our knowledge of the 
character and government of the Almighty ; and reveals an 
amazing scheme of grace, by which, in consistency with the 
glory of his perfections, and dignity of his administration, he 
can receive the returning penitent into favour. Benignity and 
mercy diffuse a lovely radiance over all his attributes ; and 
while the Scriptures assure us that he is a gracious Being, 
yea, that he is love, the death of Jesus Christ proclaims the 
same truth, in a manner that may convince every understand- 
ing, and affect every heart. " God so loved the world that 
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believefh in 
him should not perish, but have everlasting life." " O the 
depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of 
God!" His love towards us passeth understanding. May 
love to this great and gracious Being reign in our hearts, and 
regulate our lives ! May we, in the spirit of cheerful obedi- 
ence, wisely improve our faculties and our privileges, and 
act suitably to the prospects which the gospel sets before us, 
so that at last we may meet with the approbation of our Lord, 
and inherit the kingdom prepared for the righteous ! 



CHAPTER III.: 

CHRISTIAN DUTY. 

Belief in the being, perfections, and providence of God, 
and in the gospel, does not terminate in mere speculation; 
hut is calculated to have a powerful and gracious influence 
on the heart and life. What, then, are the duties resulting 
from this belief? what are the dispositions which we ought 
to cultivate 1 what is the conduct which we ought to pursue ? 
19 



218 CHRISTIAN' DUTY. 

We may shortly answer, that it teaches us to live soberly, 
and righteously, and piously in the world ; or, in other words, 
tO perform our duty to God, our neighbour, and ourselves. 
All duty, indeed, may be considered as obedience to the will 
of God; for, if we obey the will of God, we will discharge 
our duty to our neighbour and to ourselves. Every devout 
affection, every social virtue, right temper, and right conduct, 
flow from a correct and steady belief in Cod, and in the gos- 
pel of his Son, as naturally 'as a stream from its fountain. 
But. in order that our conceptions on the Bubject may be 
more distinct, we shall consider our duty to God, to our 
neighbour, and to ourselves. While, however, we attend to 
these separately, we must not forget that in practice they go 
together, and operate on each other. They are harmonious 
parts of one whole. Even when performing our duty to our 
neighbour and to ourselves, we must be actuated by a devout 
regard to the will of our heavenly Father. 

Frequent meditation on the moral attributes of God cannot 
fail to have a salutary effect on our temper and conduct, and 
to promote in us a continual approximation to his moral 
image. Some of the lustre of the divine attributes will ad- 
here to our minds, like the glory which shone on the face of 
Moses when he came down from conversing with God on the 
mount. It is not enough to believe that God is, for it is es- 
sential to have correct apprehensions of his perfections and 
government. We must be acquainted with his attributes in 
order to know what affections to cherish, and what actions to 
perform ; for the ideas which we entertain of the divine cha- 
racter have much influence on our hearts and lives. False 
notions of God lie at the foundation of all false religions. 
Hence flow idolatry, superstition, fanaticism, and every cor- 
rupt mode of worship. Whether we look to the high places 
of Moloch, or to the temples of Venus; to the human sacri- 
fices bleeding at the altar of Odin, or to the self-devoted 
victim expiring under the wheels of the car of Juggernaut; 
to the Stylite on his pillar, or the Anchorite in his cave ; we 
see the unhappy effects of false conceptions of God. 

As misapprehensions of the character and government of 
the Almighty are the source of so much evil, it ought to be 
our steady aim to acquire just notions of the only true God, 
and of Jesus Christ his Son. For this purpose it behoves us 
to attend to the works of Creation, and to the Holy Scrip- 
There is an admirable harmony in their combined 
testimony, and they mutually elucidate each other. We are 
particularly to study the Bible, which is a treasure of pre- 



OUR DUTY TO GOD. 219 

cious knowledge, and has a powerful tendency to make us both 
wise and good ; to enlighten the understanding, and to purify 
and comfort the heart. Defect in duty arises from imperfec- 
tion of knowledge, violence of appetite, or perversity of af- 
fection ; all of which the Scriptures tend to remove or rectify. 
If we have right apprehensions of God, we will cherish 
reverential awe, grateful affection, dutiful obedience, filial 
trust, and cheerful resignation. 

1. If we have right apprehensions of the perfections and 
government of God, we will cherish a holy fear and reveren- 
tial awe of him. God is infinitely exalted above us. He is 
the Creator, we are the creatures of his hand : he is the So- 
vereign, we are his subjects : he is the Judge, we must stand 
at his tribunal, and hear our sentence of approval or condem- 
nation from his lips. He is wise in heart and mighty in 
strength. Shall we not then, with holy reverence, lift our 
eye to him, who built and upholds the magnificent fabric 
of" the universe, who leads the planets in their ceaseless 
revolutions, and who guides Orion and Arcturus in their 
courses 1 Shall we not revere him who sends forth the winds 
from their chambers, who presides over the tumults of the 
ocean, who commands the tempest and it is still, who shakes 
the earth, and the pillars thereof tremble 1 Shall we not re- 
vere him who is the author of our existence, and on whom 
we continually and entirely depend 1 We owe him incom- 
parably more than the respectful affection due to a parent, 
and incomparably more than the reverence due to a king. 

2. Right apprehensions of the perfections and government 
of God will produce in us grateful affection towards him. 
God is amiable in himself, and he stands in the most en- 
dearing relations to us. He is the former of our bodies, the 
Father of our spirits, the preserver of both. On him we every 
moment depend ; he is our benefactor, and from him all our 
enjoyments flow. Life, and all that renders life comfortable, 
are the gift of his munificence : his bountiful hand supplies 
our wants ; his powerful arm shields us from danger. He 
bears long with our perversity, often preserves us from the 
consequences of our follies, extricates us from difficulties, 
delivers us from temptation, disappoints our fears, comforts 
us in grief, and puts songs of joy into our mouth. We are 
grateful to an earthly benefactor who has conferred on us 
some small and transient favour ; and not to feel such grati- 
tude argues a want of the best affections of our nature. Shall 
we not, then, love God for his excellencies and benefits ? 
Shall not the whole current of our soul flow towards him 



220 CHRISTIAN DUTY. 

from whom we have received all, and on whom all our hopes 
depend ; yea, who lias s< at his Son into the world to enlighten 
our minds, to expiate our sins, to purify and save us ? Bless 
the Lord, O our souls, and all that is within us bless his holy 
name; who healeth all our diseases, who forgiveth all our 
iniquities, who redeem eth us from going down to death, and 
who erowneth us with loving-kindness and tender mercies ! 

3. Grateful affection leads to dutiful obedience. We wish 
to please those whom we love and who are kind to us. But 
God is supremely amiable, and he is our great benefactor; 
therefore it is our duty, and ought to be our delight, to do 
what is well-pleasing to him. All his commandments are 
wise and good, worthy of him from whom they proceed, and 
divinely suited to make those happy who obey him. They 
are the dictates of unerring wisdom for regulating the conduct 
of creatures such as we arc, and must tend to advance our 
welfare. At present, the commandments which relate to re- 
ligious worship shall shortly engage our attention ; and we 
must remember, that God docs not require us to pay him 
homage because he derives any advantage from our adora- 
tion, but because it is beneficial to ourselves. It is the test 
of our allegiance, and the means of our improvement and 
happiness. The great design of religion is to promote in us 
a happy conformity to the moral image of God, and a conse- 
quent meetness lor heaven. This is the chief aim of all our 
religious observances, of our prayers, of our praises, of the 
whole of our worship, both public and private. In propor- 
tion as this end is gained, our religion is profitable: without 
it, speculative dogmas and ritual observances are unavailing, 
and will produce to the individual no ultimate advantage. 
Outward worship alone is by no means decisive evidence 
that the heart is right with God; but the habitual neglect of 
this worship affords a strong presumption that the person 
who is guilty of it has no correct sense of his duty, honour, 
and interest. 

Just apprehensions of the perfections and government of 
God lead to prayer, which is the aspiration of the soul to- 
wards the Almighty, and is the exercise of a weak, depend- 
ent, and guilty creature. It has been practised by men in 
every age of the world, in every condition of life, and in 
every stage of society. God invites us to pray: Jesus was 
often engaged in this pious duty, and he enjoins it on all his 
followers. It is the appointed means of obtaining blessings 
from heaven: we are to ask that we may receive. On this 
subject questions may be put, and difficulties started, which 



OUR DUTY TO GOD. 221 

our limited capacity and knowledge do not enable us entirely 
to answer and obviate. This need neither surprise nor of- 
fend us, for in every department of nature we soon reach a 
barrier which no ingenuity or exertion of ours can pass. It 
ought to suffice us that a thing is reasonable in itself, though 
we are unable certainly to trace all the steps by which it is 
brought about, and we ought to be more intent on improving 
our privileges than in indulging a restless and unreasonable 
curiosity in things that are above our reach. 

Prayer is a powerful preventive of temptation, and is well 
calculated to promote humility, gratitude, watchfulness, and 
a lively sense of our continual and entire dependence on God. 
Our prayers are to be offered up in faith, and in the name of 
Jesus, the One Mediator between God and man ; while we 
are to be humble, fervent, and persevering, at a throne of 
grace, without any of that unceremonious familiarity which 
ignorant and vain persons have sometimes manifested in their 
addresses to their Maker. The instructions of Jesus and the 
example of his apostles are the best lessons for directing our 
prayers. With due attention to these, the pious mind, im- 
pressed with a lively sense of its mercies and its wants, will 
give way to the effusions of gratitude and the aspirations of 
prayer, in a manner that will not be disregarded by the God 
and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Besides j oin- 
ing in the public prayers of the church, and exercising our- 
selves in private devotion, we are to pray in the family also, 
as family mercies are to be socially acknowledged, and the 
supply of family wants implored by joint supplication. 

Through impotency of mind, irregularity of affections and 
passions, and the avocations and cares of life, we are apt to 
forget the Author of our existence and enjoyments, as well 
as our own most important interests. In cases where we are 
not impelled by the instinctive propensities or physical ne- 
cessities of our nature, any duty which is not performed at 
stated periods is in great danger of being much neglected. 
Besides, men united in society ought to engage in social wor- 
ship, and for this purpose public places and solemn times 
must be set apart. Hence the Sabbath is a noble institution, 
periodically encouraging us to serious consideration, and to 
the elevating exercises of religion. It administers to our 
physical comfort, and is happily fitted to promote our moral 
improvement. To him who labours assiduously for six days, 
the rest of the seventh is a seasonable and grateful relaxation 
from bodily toil. It refreshes and prepares for the labours 
19* 



222 CHRISTIAN DUTY. 

of the week, and on it the inferior animals, which aid us in 
our toils, Bhare in our rest. 

But it is as a moral institute chiefly that the Sabbath at 
present claims our attention. We are not to consider this 
holy day as relating to a future state of existence merely, but 
as closely connected with our interest and happiness in the 
life; as a day for serious meditation on the temper 
we are to cherish and the social duties we are to perform, as 
well as a pious preparation for the life that is to come. The 
public servici s of the Sabbath carry on a system of moral 
ii. instructing us how to act as good members of the 
civil community to which we belong; and every sober and 
serious mind must be sensible of the value of such exercises. 
Our social duties, and the great concerns of our probationary 
state, ought never to be forgotten, but should be the principal 
aim of our lives, the daily subject of our private and family 
devotions. On the Sabbath we are more particularly called 
to those important considerations, and are invited to bestow 
upon them the most earnest, attention. One day in seven is 
no unreasonable portion of time allotted to this service. Six 
days are allowed chiefly for our secular avocations; the se- 
venth is more particularly devoted to our moral education, to 
the serious consideration of our present duties and future 
is. The duties of the Sabbath, as a day of religious 
exercise and rest from the ordinary business of life, no per- 
son who has correct notions of the perfections and govern- 
ment of God, and of his own nature, state, and duty, will 
either undervalue or neglect. We are anxious to secure our 
physical comfort, and shall we be careless of moral improve- 
ment ] None but the depraved beings who are lost both to 
a sense of duty and interest, will act this infatuated and guilty 
part. 

The public worship of the Sabbath, conducted by pious 
and enlightened ministers, is a happy means of intellectual 
and moral improvement, informing and strengthening the un- 
derstanding, and purifying and exalting the affections. A 
pious assembly united in prayer and praise, and in listening 
seriously to the solemn truths of religion, communicate to 
each other a sympathetic fervour, and their devout worship, 
like incense from the altar, ascends through the Mediator 
with acceptance to the throne of God. The repetition of this 
holy glow of piety after short intervals, makes the children 
of God grow up like trees planted by the rivers of water. A 
noble model for imitation, and a perfect standard for measur- 
ing their character are continually before their eyes; and 



OUR DUTY TO GOD, 223 

drawing- refreshing- and invigorating draughts from the wells 
of salvation, they go on, like the ancient pilgrims, from 
strength to strength, towards the holy Zion. 

4. Dutiful obedience inspires with filial trust. God in- 
vites us to trust in him, and we have every encouragement 
to comply with his gracious invitation. He is Almighty; 
his wisdom is unsearchable ; his goodness inexhaustible. Of 
these attributes we have clear evidence in creation and provi- 
dence. His wisdom and goodness shine with brilliant lustre 
in redemption ; and his truth and faithfulness endure to all 
generations. He has given us life, which is more than meat ; 
the body, which is more than raiment. Having bestowed the 
greater, will he withhold the less favour? He has given us 
many great and precious promises, and these promises he 
will fulfil, for in Christ they are all yea and amen. Nothino- 
befalls us without his knowledge. Without him not even a 
sparrow falleth to the ground, and all the hairs of our head are 
numbered. His eye is ever upon us. He knows all our 
wants; sees all our dangers, and will watch over the inte- 
rests of all his faithful subjects. He has been kind to us in 
time past, and this may encourage us to trust in him for fu- 
ture blessings. A dutiful child never suspects the good-will 
of his affectionate parent. And shall we in any degree dis- 
trust the Father of lights from whom cometh down every 
good and perfect gift? We will trust in him, in the full as- 
surance that he will make all things work together for our 
good. But while we place an unhesitating trust in his pa- 
rental affection and care, we must be careful never to tempt 
him either by indolence or temerity. Prudent caution and 
active diligence must characterize our conduct; and, in the 
dutiful use of means, it behoves us, under the shadow of his 
omnipotent arm, to proceed with a steady intrepidity in the 
way of righteousness. 

5. Filial trust leads to pious resignation. In the day of ad- 
versity the unenlightened see and hear only the gloom of the 
firmament, and the howling of the tempest ; hut the eye of 
God's dutiful children penetrates the darkness, and behind 
the clouds which overcast the sky sees the Almighty parent 
sitting on his heavenly throne watching over their interests, 
and overruling all events for their good. The government 
of God extends over all. Our afflictions are part of a great 
scheme formed by unerring wisdom. Each of them appears 
in the place which the Sovereign disposer of events has as- 
signed. They are consequences of sin, and means of cor- 
recting our errors, and promoting our improvements In the- 



224 CHRISTIAN DUTY. 

righteous administration of God, affliction is one of the great 
springs for moving the powers both of our intellectual and 
moral nature, li is the discipline which we undergo in the 
course of our education for a happy immortality, and never 
Is what is needful, or what may prove beneficial. 

When the sun of prosperity beams upon us, and our cup 
of enjoyment is full, we are too much disposed to forgot the 
fountain whence all our blessings flow. Hence God chastens 
us in mercy, to wean our affections from some idol, to 
awaken in us some neglected virtue, to make us look to him- 
self, become partakers of his holiness, and meet for a happy 
immortality. " Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and 
if we endure chastening, God dealeth with us as with sons." 
Often have the subjects of God's moral government had 
cause to say, " it is good for us that we have been afflicted." 
We cannot always avoid trials; but we may always apply 
thern to wise purposes, as instruments of spiritual education, 
and means of preparing us for future glory. Pride or insen- 
sibility may affect to disregard afflictions : it is the province 
of wisdom to improve them. They are inflicted by our 
Father for a gracious purpose, and that purpose it should be 
our constant aim to promote. The excellence of the end to 
be attained may reconcile us to the means employed to bring 
it about. The weary pilgrim travels cheerfully through a 
thorny path, when he knows it is short, and will soon con- 
duct him to the object of all his desire, and all his hope. And 
shall not the Christian bear with steady fortitude and pious 
resignation the transitory ills of life, seeing that they are the 
steps by which, he is ascending to the mansions in his Fa- 
ther's house 1 " Our light affliction, which is but for a mo- 
ment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal 
weight of glory." 

In the season of trouble the faithful draw strong consola- 
tion from the gospel. The world may frown, but they re- 
joice in the light of the Divine countenance. They may lose 
earthly substance, but they have an abiding inheritance in 
heaven. Friends may prove unkind, or die, but God's love is 
unchangeable : and if they on whom our affections rest close 
the journey of life before us, they rise Jo more exalted dwell- 
ings, and we shall soon overtake them in the peaceful habi- 
tations of the just, free from all the infirmities and imper- 
fections which depressed their hearts, or clouded their ex- 
cellence. Disease may come, and the hour of dissolution 
approach: but if this world fail them, better mansions are pre- 
pared for their reception. If they leave friends on earth, 



OUR DUTY TO OUR NEIGHBOUR. 225 

they are about to join a nobler society: and those friends 
whom they leave behind, they can, in full confidence, com- 
mit to the gracious providence of God. The body must 
slumber in the house of silence and forgetfulness, but the last 
trumpet shall sound, and then shall this corruptible put on 
incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality. " O death, 
where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory 1 ? Thanks 
be to God who hath given us the victory through our Lord 
Jesus Christ." 

"What, O man, doth the Lord require of thee, but to do 
justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God'W 
The first commandment is, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all 
thy mind; and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love 
thy neighbour as thyself." The gospel teaches us to "live 
soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world." Re- 
ligion consists of two great parts ; piety, or the duty which 
we owe immediately to God ; and morality, or the duty 
which we owe to our neighbour, and to ourselves. In pro- 
portion as either of these is wanting, our religion is defective. 
Piety without morality is hollow and deceitful; morality 
without piety is like a house built on the sand. Although 
God has joined these two together, yet men often attempt 
to tear them asunder. Some value themselves highly on 
their piety, but pay little respect to morality ; while others 
boast of their morality without any due regard to piety. Both 
are equally in error. 

Nothing more clearly shows the darkness of the human 
understanding, and the depravity of the human- heart, than 
the consideration, that though the character of the Pharisees 
is so plainly delineated, and so strongly condemned in the 
word of God, jret many who pride themselves highly on their 
religion are nothing more than mere Pharisees. If the)' give 
alms, a trumpet is blown on the occasion ; if they pray, they 
take care that men shall know of their devotions, as well as 
if performed at the corners of streets. They compass sea and 
land to make a proselyte, and are ill qualified to improve 
him. They pay tithes of mint, anise, and cummin, but 
neglect the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and 
faith. All they do is to be seen of men. How much soever 
such persons may esteem themselves on their religion, it is 
neither consistent with reason nor Christianity, for if we love 
God for his own sake, we love our neighbour for God's sake. 
We are not enjoined to love our neighbour in the same 
;, but merely with the same kind of affection which we 



226 CHRISTIAN DUTY. 

bear to ourselves ; and to act towards him as we might fairly 
and r< asonahlv expect that, in similar circumstances, he 
should act towards us. 

All mankind are brethren. Every human being who 
comes in our way and stands in need of our aid is entitled to 
our sympathy. Human nature and distress form a legitimate 
claim to our friendly assistance. We are not to withhold 
our brotherly affection from any of our fellow men, because 
an imaginary line, a river, a ridge of mountains, or a channel 
erf the ocean, may have separated their birth-place from ours; 
because their manners, customs, and political instituti 
not the same with our own ; because, by reason of difference 
of climate and manner of life their skin is tinged with a dif- 
ferent colour; because they offer their tribute of homage to 
the Creator in a different manner; or because there is some 
difference or shade of difference between their religious rites 
and opinions and ours. The Jew is to love and do good to 
the Samaritan ; the Samaritan to do the same to the Jew. 
We are to do good to all men as we have opportunity, but 
especially to them who belong to the household of faith. 
Miracles have passed away; but faith, hope, and charity, 
the permanent glories of Christianity, remain, and the great- 
est of these is charity. The sentiment of universal benevo- 
lence expands the heart, humanizes the mind, and fosters 
every generous affection; but jealousy, malice, hatred, and 
other malignant passions pervert the soul, and cramp and de- 
teriorate the best feelings of our nature. They wage war 
with every manly and liberal principle. Instead of sweeping 
the globe with the guilty purpose of oppressing the weak, 
robbing the defenceless, exciting the sound of lamentation in 
the humble hut, and drawing forth the tears of the widow and 
the orphan, we will do what is in our power to promote the 
happiness of our fellow men. In the genuine spirit of bro- 
therly affection, we will smoke the pipe of peace with the 
untutored wanderer of the American wilderness, and partake 
of bread and salt with the hardy native of the African desert. 

In most instances it is to a very limited number of our fel- 
low men than we can actually do good ; but it becomes us to 
embrace them all in the arms of brotherly affection. Chris- 
tianity, however, is a practical institute, and teaches us that 
our first exertions ought to be in behalf of those with whom 
we are most immediately connected. Relations and those 
who are nearest to us are first entitled to our attention, and 
others in proportion to the fair claims which the uncorrupted 
dictates of humanity give them upon us. Throw a stone into 



OUR DUTY TO OUR NEIGHBOUR. 227 

a calm transparent lake, and the circling undulations become 
feebler as they recede from the central point: so while our 
hearts vibrate with sincere good-will to all our fellow men, 
the vibrations are to be stronger towards those with whom 
we are more immediately connected. By acting as it be- 
comes the affectionate children of God, by mutual love, and 
friendly co-operation we greatly lighten the burdens, soothe 
the cares, and heighten the joys of life ; but by jealousy, ma- 
lice, envy, and hatred, we incalculably aggravate the sum of 
affliction. Mankind often complain that they are unhappy ; 
that they tread in a thorny path, and drink of a bitter stream. 
But whence do their sufferings and their sorrows flow 1 In a 
great measure from their own malignant passions. Remove 
the cause, and the effect will disappear. Banish malice, 
envy, hatred ; let genuine good-will towards each other pre- 
vail, and a great portion of human misery will fade away, 
like darkness before the rising sun. It will dissipate the 
gloom which often clouds the countenance, and remove the 
grief which often preys upon the heart. 

We love God from a sense of his perfections and his be- 
nefits. Love to God produces good-will to men ; and all the 
social virtues are emanations of benevolence. They are the 
operations of this divine principle according to the different 
relations in which we stand to our fellow men. If genuine 
benevolence reign in our heart, it will lead, under the direction 
of a sound judgment, to the proper discharge of the duties 
we owe to others, which are so many streams flowing from 
this sacred fountain. 

1. True benevolence inspires with the love of justice, and 
prompts him in whose bosom it glows, neither to oppress the 
weak, to impose on the ignorant, nor to overreach the unwary ; 
but to give every man his due, and with steady and undeviat- 
ing steps to walk in the hallowed path of equity. Deceit 
and dissimulation, fraud, and falsehood, are far from the 
humble worshipper of God : integrity is enthroned in his 
heart, truth dwells on his lips, and an enlightened sense of 
duty regulates the whole of his conduct. He faithfully per- 
forms every promise, and fulfils every engagement. Others 
respect and trust his word, because he respects and holds it 
sacred himself. His life is characterized by the simplicity 
of truth, and the dignity of virtue; and, in dealing with him, 
they who have an opportunity of knowing his character place 
unbounded confidence in his justice and faithfulness. 

2. Benevolence and integrity are accompanied by candour 
in our judgments of our fellow men, and lead us to be mode- 



2*28 CHRISTIAN DUTY. 

rate in our expressions of disapprobation, even when their 
conduct is justly liable to blame. Jons lias said "ju 
that ye be not-judged;" and, therefore, his faithful follower 
does mil indulge in unnecessary, severe, and harsh censures 
of others. He does not triumph over their errors, nor need- 
lessly publish their failings. What is merely faulty he does 
not condemn as criminal ; where a worthy motive can be as- 
: r suspicions of a bad design, nor 
does he impute to malignant principles what may have pro- 
from rash and unguarded impetuosity. In most in- 
stances, the circumstances of our neighbour are but partially 
known to us : there may be many palliations of his actions of 
which we are not apprized, and, therefore, the judgment of 
the candid person is as favourable as the case will admit. He 
who is duly sensible of his own frailty makes every reason- 
able allowance for the infirmities, weaknesses, and errors of 
his neighbour. Unless it be in his power to commend, he 
bridles his tongue : detraction and slander do not pollute his 
lips. 

3. The disciple of Jesus Christ tenderly sympathizes with 
his brethren in the different circumstances in which they are 
placed ; rejoices with them who rejoice, and weeps with them 
who weep. A humane and sympathetic disposition is the 
proper soil for the growth of every virtue: the absence of it 
is favourable to the growth of every vice. He whose heart 
is duly regulated, entertains a kindred feeling for all his fel- 
low pilgrims in the journey of life. Under a proper sense of 
the value of an immortal being, he is deeply affected when he 
sees a brother treading in the paths wherein destroyers go. 
He uses all the prudent means in his power to reclaim him : 
the offender may perhaps be obstinate and audacious in wick- 
edness, and discretion may advise to let him alone, and leave 
him to reap the fruit of his own doings. But if at times the 
good man turns away in hopeless melancholy from the obsti- 
nate transgressor, he never shuts his ear against the cry of the 
afflicted. The voice ot'a brother in distress always awakens 
the tender sympathies of his nature, and finds ready access to 
his heart. He yields to the impulse of his best feelings; 
hastens to the house of mourning to mingle his tears with 
those of the children of affliction, and administers that strong 
consolation which the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ affords 
under the trials of frail humanity. 

While he comforts the mourner, he also, according to his 
ability, supplies the wants of the needy. With respect to 
them, simple condolence, fair words, and good wishes merely 



OUR DUTY TO OUR NEIGHBOUR. 229 

will not do. "If a brother or sister be naked, and desti- 
tute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, depart in 
peace, be ye warmed and filled ; notwithstanding ye give 
them not those things which are needful to the body, what 
doth it profit ?" Fair words and good wishes, how proper 
soever they may be in their own place, will neither feed the 
hungry nor clothe the naked. Our sympathy must be active. 
We must stretch out our hand to assist and to relieve. Our 
means may be limited ; but if we make a wise use of those 
limited means, our exertions will not be disregarded before the 
throne of God. " Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor 
widow hath cast in more than they all." " If there be first 
a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, 
and not according to that he hath not." 

Compassionate sympathy and beneficence towards the 
afflicted are advantageous to ourselves. They exercise, 
strengthen, and exalt our best affections, and promote in us a 
happy conformity to the moral image of the Father of lights, 
from whom cometh down every good and perfect gift. If we 
visit the house of mourning, by the sadness of the countenance 
the heart is made better. We learn impressive lessons of our 
frailty and dependence, and are taught to lift our eye to the 
God of salvation. A deed of mercy to a distressed brother 
fills the heart with a sublime complacency, and is a kind of 
foretaste of the joys of a more exalted state. In deeds of be- 
neficence Jesus was much employed : he enjoins them on his 
disciples, and he will gloriously reward them. " When the 
Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels 
with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory : And 
before him shall be gathered all nations : and he shall sepa- 
rate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep 
from the goats : And he shall set his sheep on his right hand, 
but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto 
them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, in- 
herit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the 
world : For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat : I was 
thirsty r , and ye gave me drink : 1 was a stranger, and ye took 
me in : Naked, and ye clothed me : I was sick, and ye visited 
me : I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Verily I say 
unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of 
these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." 

4. The spirit of benevolence will lead us to do what in us 
lies to live peaceably with all men. We will be careful not 
to offend either by injurious conduct, unreasonable preten- 
sions, or provoking language. While we cautiously avoid 
20 



230 CHRISTIAN DUTY. 

every just cause of displeasure, we will employ all fair and 
honest means to conciliate the respect and good-will of our 
neighbour. In our intercourse with others, we will be mild 
and* affectionate in our language, respectful and kind in our 
behaviour. In cases where we are exposed to provocation, we 
will be on our guard against irritable warmth and fierce im- 
petuosity of temper ; and will study on every occasion to act 
with the dignity of rational beings, and to practise the virtue 
of moral agents. We will never wantonly wound the feelings 
of a brother. Nay, even if he be fretful and irritable we v. ill 
bear with him. Perhaps his mind bleeds under some secret 
Avound which if known would entitle him to our sympathy 
and commiseration, and a remark which in other circumstances 
would produce little effect may pierce his soul like an arrow. 
"While we are peaceable ourselves, we will, to the utmost of 
our power, promote peace among others. Some take pleasure 
in throwing a firebrand into the midst of friends, and rejoice 
in the flame which they have kindled. But such persons are 
actuated by the demon of unrighteousness, and must at last 
share the condemnation of the wicked. Jesus not only en- 
joins us to follow peace with all men, but also pronounces 
the peace-maker blessed. 

5. While we are humane to the afflicted, and endeavour to 
live peaceably with all, we will exercise forgiveness towards 
the injurious. The disciple of Jesus, acting in the spirit of 
his Master, imitating his example, and obeying his precepts, 
is careful to give no provocation, to offer no affront, to do no 
injury to any°man. He is not forward in taking offence, nor 
vindictive in the prosecution of quarrels that may be forced 
upon him. He overlooks affronts and injuries, so far as he 
can do so consistently with his own security and that of the 
public. Even when obliged to take measures to repel aggres- 
sion, or to obtain redress of injuries sustained, he harbours no 
rancorous malignity in his breast, but bears about with him 
the spirit of conciliation. He remembers the precept of his 
Master, "bless them that curse you, and pray for them which 
despitefully use you." 

The exercise of forgiveness may at times be considered a 
hard duty, but many motives combine to encourage and to en- 
force a forgiving disposition. It is the means of securing the 
approbation, respect, and good-will of our fellow men. It also 
contributes greatly to our own happiness; for all the malig- 
nant passions are as two-edged swords, and are generally as 
hurtful to ourselves as to our enemy. This is particularly 
the case with a vindictive disposition. In the mind that har- 



OUR DUTY TO OURSELVES. 231 

bours revenge, the source of enjoyment is poisoned, and hap- 
piness withers like a blighted plant. Forgiveness conciliates 
the good-will even of an enemy, and the Christian must ex- 
ercise a forgiving disposition in imitation of the example, and 
in obedience to the precepts of Jesus. He taught his disci- 
ples to exercise forgiveness, and he nobly exemplified his 
own lesson in the most irritating circumstances, and under 
the most grievous injuries. A prayer for his enemies quiv- 
ered on his lips, even when expiring on the cross, " Father, 
forgive them, for they know not what they do." " Put on, 
therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of 
mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffer- 
ing; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any 
man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, 
so also do ye." 

The great duty which we owe to ourselves is to promote 
our real interests, not for any detached period, but through- 
out the whole of our existence. This cannot be done with- 
out performing our duty to God and to our neighbour. God 
has established a close connection betwixt our duty and our 
interest ; by performing the one we will assuredly promote 
the other. Duty is the grand means of happiness. But al- 
though our duty is one great whole, yet we may consider 
some things more particularly in reference to ourselves. And 
among these none is of more importance than due care in 
self-government, and in the formation of temper. This object, 
if wisely and steadily pursued, will greatly contribute to our 
present comfort, and must have a salutary influence on our 
future welfare. 

1. It is not uncommon to imagine, that temper is as little 
dependent on the will as the length of the arm or the colour 
of the skin. But this imagination is an unfounded prejudice, 
and produces the most unhappy effects. Persons first permit 
themselves to think that they can do nothing in the forma- 
tion of temper, and then they attempt nothing, but allow it to 
grow up in wild and unpruned luxuriance. Notwithstand- 
ing all that may be said about natural constitution, and the 
influence of organic tendencies, I am fully satisfied that we 
can subject temper to the discipline of reason, and form it 
in any mould according to our pleasure. The irascible pas- 
sions appear as early, and are as difficult to subjugate as any 
others ; but we see that the most fretful and impatient per- 
sons, who are perpetually harassing their dependents with 
their peevishness and intemperate sallies, are able to restrain 
their ebullitions when in the presence of a superior, or in the 



232 CHRISTIAN" DUTY. 

company of an equal who would chastise them for outrage- 
ous conduct. Some persons, indeed, seem to think that tem- 
per, in many respects, lias but little connexion with religion, 
and that care in the formation of it is of no great moment. 
If religion, however, consist in a happy conformity to the 
moral image of God, then the formation of temper is of es- 
sential importance, and is entitled to the most earnest atten- 
tion of all who aspire to the Christian character. There is 
nothing in which our temporal happiness is so much in our 
power as in the formation of temper, and nothing will more 
conduce to our future welfare than wise exertions on this point. 

A proud, irritable, discontented, and quarrelsome person 
can never be happy. He has thrown a tempestuous atmo- 
sphere around himself, and must for ever move in the region 
of storms. He has employed sure means to embitter life, 
whatever may be his external circumstances. He has been 
the architect of his temper, and misery must be the result of 
his labour. But a person who has formed his temper and 
dispositions of mind after a right model ; who is humble, 
meek, cheerful, and contented, can commonly find a conve- 
nient shelter when overtaken by the storms of life. It should, 
therefore, be our early lesson to subject the passions, appe- 
tites, and desires, to the control and guidance of reason. The 
first are the gales to impel us in the voyage of life, but the 
last ought still to sit at the helm and direct our course. The 
stream, when it slowly descends with a hoarse murmur from 
the mountain and ripples through the plain, adorns and 
enriches the scene; but when it rushes down in a roaring 
and impetuous torrent, overflowing its banks, it carries de- 
vastation and ruin along with it: so when the passions, 
appetites, and desires, are kept under due restraint, they are 
a useful and felicitating part of our nature; but when they 
are allowed to rage with unbridled fury, they commit fearful 
ravagea on the character which they were fitted to adorn and 
exalt. We must watch over the first movements of the heart, 
and not indulge with secret complacency in imaginations 
which we would be ashamed to avow. If rt-e wish the stream 
of life to be pure, it ought to be our aim to preserve the foun- 
tain whence it flows unpolluted. " Keep thy heart with all 
diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." 

2. An humble, sober, and reasonable mind is of incalcula- 
ble value in performing the journey of life. Humility is no 
way allied either to that pusillanimity which shrinks from 
every danger, or to that meanness of spirit which pursues its 
own petty interests and selfish ends by low and unworthy 



OUR DUTY TO OURSELVES. 233 

means. It admits of the noblest ambition, the ambition of 
virtue, of intellectual anil moral excellence, and of an emu- 
lous progress towards the perfection of our nature. Jesus has 
set us a noble example of humility, and he enjoins us to imi- 
tate him. " Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly." Hu- 
mility is well pleasing- in the sight of God, for it is founded 
on the manner of thinking concerning ourselves, which be- 
comes creatures such as we are. The proud in heart are an 
abomination to the Lord, but he has respect to the lowly. 
"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of 
God, that he may exalt you in due time." 

3. Along with humility we should cultivate cheerfulness. 
Humility has no connexion with pensive melancholy or 
timorous dejection. While the truly humble guard against 
the distraction of all violent passions and inordinate cares, 
they cherish a cheerful disposition of mind. There cannot, 
indeed, be genuine cheerfulness without the approbation of 
our own heart. "While, however, we pay a sacred regard to 
conscience, it must be enlightened and directed by reason 
and revelation. And happy are the individuals who can say, 
" our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that, 
in simplicity and godly sincerity, we have had our conversa- 
tion in the world." An approving mind will contribute 
greatly to cheerfulness, and that equanimity which results 
from it, from trust in God, and from the hope of a blessed 
immortality, is equally remote from sour dissatisfaction, de- 
sponding melancholy, and frivolous hilarity. It smooths our 
path and sweetens our cun, rendering duty easy and affliction 
light. 

4. Cheerfulness and contentment are close companions. 
They mutually encourage and strengthen each other, and 
are seldom found in a state of utter separation. Patience is 
exercised in bearing well those evils which naturally and im- 
mediately give us uneasiness. Contentment relates to those 
things which disturb us by reflection and comparison only, 
and has a great influence on the happiness of our lives, and 
the respectability of our characters. Many of the mortifica- 
tions and disgusts which embitter life proceed not from any 
positive evils, hunger or cold, pain or disease, but from false 
estimates, fictitious wants, and imaginary grievances. Num- 
bers, instead of being grateful for the advantages which they 
enjoy, keep themselves in a state of perpetual irritation and 
infelicity, by cherishing lofty pretensions, making invidious 
comparisons, entertaining false notions, foolish pride, and 
vain ambition. But instead of imitating these trifling self- 



234 CHRISTIAN DUTY. 

tormentors, we should remember that intellectual and moral 
attainments, knowledge and virtue, are the only legitimate 
grounds of personal respectability among moral agents. We 
axe under the wise and gracious providence of God, who 
watches over our welfare with parental affection, and, there- 
fore, while we are diligent in the use of means, we will 
cheerfully submit both to do and to suffer what our Father 
sees meet. Contentment is the great secret of happiness. 
Without it neither the gold of Ophir nor the dominion of 
Ahasuerus can impart felicity. It is the richest mine and the 
best empire. Contentment, however, has no connexion with 
indolence or indifference about our temporal concerns. The 
human mind is endued with an unwearied activity; and this 
principle, which is the source of our happiness and means of 
our improvement, should be rightly directed in the diligent 
prosecution of some honest employment. 

Lastly, While we are diligently pursuing our ordinary 
avocations, we ought ever to attend to the melioration of our 
moral nature, and to the improvement of our intellectual 
powers. Knowledge is honourable to a rational being. We 
have dominion over the inferior animals, not by our physical 
strength, but by our intellectual endowments ; and the exten- 
sion of our knowledge may be considered as an enlargement 
of our power. It is also instrumental in cultivating our moral 
nature; for unless our understanding be improved, our moral 
faculties will not be very exalted. In proportion as we are 
ambitious of moral excellence, we will, according to our op- 
portunities, be active in the pursuit of intellectual attainments. 
Ignorance resulting from carelessness or sloth indicates no 
small degree of degradation, and will be visited with due 
retribution. 

While we study to be growing in wisdom and in virtue, it 
becomes us frequently and carefully to examine the state of 
our mind. They who pay a prudent attention to their tem- 
poral concerns often look into the state of their affairs, that 
they may know whether they be in a thriving condition. 
This is as needful in our spiritual pursuits. It behoves us 
often to review the actions of our lives, and the affections of 
our hearts, and to inquire, as under the eye of God, and with 
a view to a state of future account, whether we be cherishing 
those dispositions and acquiring those habits which duty and 
interest demand. If this examination be conducted with due 
care, and in the light of revelation, it will be the means of 
discovering errors which otherwise might have passed unno- 



OUR DUTY TO OURSELVES. 235 

ticed, and motives to diligence which may have been formerly 
unperceived. 

We have commenced the career of existence which shall 
never end. Every step we take in life is to have an influence 
on those that follow. We should therefore be careful never 
by our present conduct to injure our future interests. As we 
are daily advancing on our way to eternity, we will daily be 
growing in likeness to God and meetness for heaven. In youth 
we labour to acquire that knowledge, and those habits which 
are requisite for discharging the duties of maturer years ; in 
like manner, during the whole of life we should be employed 
in the diligent prosecution of that system of education which 
is requisite to qualify us for the duties and enjoyments of a 
higher stage of existence. We must never sit down content- 
ed with any attainments we may have already made either in 
knowledge or virtue. The wisest and the best have cause 
for persevering exertion, and room for growing improvement. 
Progress in excellence imparts present pleasure, and fits for 
future glory. We see what exertions the children of this 
world make to gain the objects of their ambition, honour, 
wealth, and power. For these they rise early and toil late. 
They traverse every climate, submit to every privation, en- 
counter every danger. And shall the candidate for high in- 
tellectual and moral excellence, and for a blessed immortality, 
be more timid in encountering difficulties and dangers, or 
less strenuous and persevering in his exertions, in order to 
gain the objects of his lofty ambition 1 The path of happi- 
ness and glory lies before us. Let us steadily pursue it. As 
we approach the close of life, we will draw near the gate of 
our Father's house, so that when this world fails us, we may 
find ourselves on the threshold of heaven ; and, when the 
voice of friends on earth dies upon our ear, we may hear the 
acclamations of the chosen spirits of the universe welcoming 
us to their dwellings in the paradise of God. 



NEW AND POPULAR WORKS, 

PUBLISHED 

BY KEY § BIDDLE, 

23 Minor Street. 

GREAT NATIONAL WORK. 
Key £f Biddle have in course of publication, 

A HISTORY OF THE INDIAN TRIBES OF 
NORTH AMERICA, with Biographical Sketches and 
Anecdotes of the Principal Chiefs. Embellished with 120 
Portraits, from the Indian Gallery in the Department of War 
at Washington. By Col. T. L. M'Kenney. 

The public are aware that a most interesting and curious 
collection of Indian Portraits has been making since 1821, 
by the Executive of the United States ; and that this collec- 
tion forms a gallery in the Indian department at Washing- 
ton, numbering at this time about one hundred and twenty 
heads. The interest felt in this effort to preserve the like- 
nesses and costume of our aborigines — a work so intimately 
connected with the natural history of Man, is indicated by 
the immense numbers of citizens and foreigners, who 
visit the gallery ; and the uniform admiration they express of 
its valuable and interesting character. Believing the public 
will sustain the undertaking, the undersigned have made 
arrangements for publishing this unique group. That no- 
thing might be lost, the size of most of the original drawings 
have been preserved. The original drawings, it may be pro- 
per to remark, are principally by King, of Washington, from 



X NEW AND 

life ; and will be vouched by responsible names, to be perfect 
likenesses. 

An Essay suited to such a work, and calculated to throw 
a light upon the history of this interesting people, will ac- 
company the first number ; and as materials will authorize 
it, the remaining numbers will bo interspersed with biogra- 
phical sketches, andanecdotes of the original, and with a vo- 
cahulairc. 

This part of the undertaking will bo executed by Colonel 
M Konnov, of the Indian Department, whose long and fa- 
miliar intercourse with our Indian relations, and travels over 
the country inhabited by most of the tribes, and personal know. 
ledge of most of the originals, lit him peculiarly for the task. 

The work will be completed in twenty numbers — each 
number will contain six heads handsomely coloured. Terms 
of subscription, six dollars per number, payable in advance. 

The publishers avail themselves of the following flattering 
notice o*" this design, in a letter from Dr. Sparks, editor of 
the North American Review, to Col. M'Kenney. From a 
gentleman so distinguished as Dr. Sparks, so well, and so 
deservedly appreciated for his hisjh standing and attainments, 
his taste and science, and with such enlarged opportunities of 
judging of the importance of such a work, such a letter is 
very encouraging. 
" My dear sir, 

" I am heartily rejoiced to learn by your favour of the 39d 
instant, that there is so good a prospect for publishing the 
portraits of the red men. I do not consider that I have any 
claim, growing out. of our conversation, and, indeed, as my 
only motive was to be instrumental in bringing before the 
public, so rare and curious a collection, it is a double satis- 
faction for me to know, that the matter is in so good hands, 
and encourages hopes of entire success. In my mind, the 
whole glory and value of the undertaking, will depend on 
the accuracy and beauty, with which the heads shall be exe- 
cuted, and the completeness of the costume. You must write 
all that is known about the character and life of each person. 
Let us have a work worthy of the subject, and honourable 
to the nation, and just to the Indians. 

" Very sincerely your friend and obedient servant, 
(Signed) " Jared Sparks." 

Th. L. M'Kenney, Esa, 

It is in reference to the foregoing work that Peter S. Du- 
ponceau, Esq., the enlightened scholar and profound civilian, 
thug expresses himself: 



POPULAR WORKS. 3 

"•'Dear Sir, 

" Philadelphia, 25th May, 1831. 

"I can not express to you how delighted I was, when I 
was kindly shown by Col. Childs, the f;ic similies of the. por- 
traits of some of our Indian Chiefs, which he has already 
prepared for your great and truly National work, and is sueh. 
an one as would do honour to the greatest sovereign of Eu- 
rope. It has often occurred to my mind, that such a work 
would have added mweh to the glory of the late Emperor 
Alexander, of Russia; and I yet wonder, that his friends did 
not suggest to him the idea of beginning a cabinet, or rather 
a museum of the nat u ral history of man, by collecting either 
in wax figures, or in paintings, in an immense hall, or gal- 
lery, exact likenesses, representing the shapes, colour, and 
features, as well as the various costumes of the numerous 
nations and tribes that inhabit his empire. I am glad he did 
not do it, and that our country will have the honour of laying 
the first foundation of an edifice, which must sooner or later 
be erected to the most important of all sciences, the know- 
ledge of our own species. The day will come, I have no 
doubt, when by the exertions of patriots in republics like our 
own, and the munificence of monarchs in other countries, the 
philosopher will have it in his power to take a view at one 
glance of the different races of mankind, their genera, spe- 
cies and varieties in well executed effigies, and thus to test 
the numerous theories to which differences have given rise. 

We are going then to begin by exhibiting the red race. 
Your knowledge of the Indian Tribes is not merely theoreti- 
cal; you have lived among them, and have had the means of 
becoming familiar with their habits, manners, and customs, 
as well as of their languages, therefore the historical part of 
this undertaking could not be confided to better hands. 

" The aborigines of the United States will soon disappear 
from the faee of the earth. I am unwilling to dwell upon 
this topic, so disgraceful to the white race — to the Christian 
race to which 1 belong — one consolation only remains. 
By means of this great work, the effigies of those former 
lords of the American soil, will at least after their destruc- 
tion, serve the purposes of philosophy and science, as the 
bodies of murdered men in the hands of the surgeon, serve 
those of humanity. 

" I am. respectfully, your friend 
and servant, 
" Peter S. Duponceau.. 

■" Thomas L. McKenneTj Esq.." 



AN ADDRESS TO THE YOUNG, ON THE IM- 
PORTANCE OF RELIGION. By John Foster, au- 
thor of Essays on Decision of Character, &c. 

This is a good publication, well conceived and admirably 
executed, full of important truths and beautifully enforced. 

Our readers know, or ought to know John Foster, the Au- 
thor of "Essays on Decision of Character," one of the best 
writers that England has produced, suited to be compared in 
manv things with Robert Hall, he needs no higher praise. — 
U. S. Gazette. 

This work comprises a series of eloquent and affectionate 
exhortations, which, if carefully attended to, will make wise 
and good men of all who lay them to heart, and endeavour 
to accord with them in life and conversation. The author 
has acquired great celebrity by his former writings. — Satur- 
day Courier. 

We are not going to hold a rush-light up to a book of John 
Foster's, but only mean to tell what is its intent. It is an 
awakening appeal to youth of the refined and educated sort, 
upon the subject of their personal religion. There can be no 
doubt as to its currency. — The Presbyterian. 

John Foster is allowed by men of all parties, political and 
religious, to be one of the most original and vigorous think- 
ers of the age. His well tried talents, his known freedom 
from cant and fanaticism. And the importance of the sub- 
ject discussed, strongly commend this Book to the attention 
of that interesting class to whom it is addressed. All his 
writings are worthy of careful and repeated perusal; but his 
essay on " Decision of Character" and this " Address to the 
Young," should be the companions of all young persons who 
are desirous of intellectual and moral improvement. 

Foster's Address to the Young. — Perhaps no reli- 
gious book has issued from the American press which 
commanded more general and abundant patronage than 
one from the pen of the Rev. Jared Waterbury, called 
" Advice to a Young Christian." Aside from its intrinsic 
excellence, it was rendered valuable by the fact that it was 
exactly adapted to a particular class of society ; and all who 
wish to make an impression upon that class, was apprised 
by its very title that it was designed to be subservient to such 
a purpose. A work of precisely such a character from the 
pen of the celebrated Foster, and designed to operate upon a 



POPULAR WORKS. 5 

different class of persons, will be found in the one of which 
the caption of this article is the title-page. The name of its 
author will supersede the necessity for all eulogium to those 
who have not read it, and to those who have, the book will 
abundantly commend itself. Permit me to direct to it the 
attention of such of your readers as may have careless young 
friends, into whose hands they would desire to place a so- 
lemn, affectionate, and fervent appeal on the indispensable 
necessity of religion. It is just published by Key and Bid- 
die, of this city, and can, I presume, be procured at any of 
the book-stores. May the great Head of the Church make 
it instrumental in the conversion of many souls. — Episcopal 
Recorder. 

A MOTHER'S FIRST THOUHGTS, By the au- 
thor of "Faith's Telescope." 

This is a brief miniature, from an Edinburgh edition. 
Its aim is to furnish religious Meditations, Prayers, and 
Devotional Poetry for pious ■mothers. It is most highly 
commended in the Edinburgh Presbyterian Review, and in 
the Christian Advocate. The author, who is a Lady of 
Srailand, unites a deep knowledge of sound theology, with 
no ordinary talent for sacred poetry. — The Presbyterian. 

"A Mother's First Thoughts," is a little work of great 
merit. It breathes a spirit of pure and fervent piety, and 
abounds in sound and salutary instruction. It contains also 
some excellent poetry. — Saturday Courier. 

A Mother's First Thoughts. By the author of " Faith's 
Telescope," 12 mo, p. 223. Key & Biddle, Philadelphia, 
1833. A neat pocket edition which will commend itself to 
all parents who have the right direction of the minds of their 
children at heart. It is dedicated to religious mothers, " and 
may He," says the author, " who alone can, render it, in 
some degree, conducive to their edification." — Journal of 
Belles Letlres. 

BRIDGE'S ALGEBRA, 12 mo. In this work the 
hitherto abstract and difficult science of Algebra is simplified 
and illustrated so as to be attainable by the younger class of 
learners, and by those who have not the aid of a teacher. It 
is already introduced into the University of Pennsylvania, at 
Philadelphia ; and the Western University at Pittsburgh 
*l 



It is also the text book of Gummere's School at Burlington, 
and of a great number of the best schools throughout the 
United States. It is equally adapted to common schools and 
colleges. 

Messrs. Key & Biddi.e have published in a very neat form, 
the 1st American, from the Gth London Edition of Bridge's 
Algebra; a treatise, which from a cursory examination, we 
think superior to any of the text books now in use, for perspi- 
cuity, simplicity of method, and adaptation to the comprehen- 
sion of learners. It contains several chapters on Logarithms 
and the subjects connected thereto, which, though interesting 
and important, are not usually appended to works on the 
subject. — Fredericksburg Political Arena. 

The publishers take great pleasure in presenting the ac- 
companying opinion of Profesor Adrain, of the University 
of Pennsylvania, who has introduced the work into that 
Institution. 

University of Pennsylvania, March 30, 1833. 
Gentlemen — 

In compliance with your request, that I would give 
you my opinion respecting your edition of Bridge's Algebra, 
I beg leave to say, that the work appears to me to be well 
adapted to the instruction of students. The arrangement of 
the several parts of the science is judicious, and the exam- 
ples are numerous and well selected. 

Yours respectfully, 

ROBERT ADRAIN. 
Philadelphia, March 1th, 1833. 
Bridge's Algebra is the text book in the school under my 
care ; and I am better pleased with it than with any which 
I have heretofore used. 

The author is very clear in his explanations, and system- 
atic in his arrangement, and has succeeded in rendering a 
comparatively abstruse branch of science, an agreeable ani 
interesting exercise both to pupil and teacher. 

JOHN FROST. 



POPULAR WORKS 7 

THE CHRISTIAN LIBRARY, is published semi- 
monthly. The first number was issued on the first day of 
May. 

The design of the work is to publish, 

1. The most valuable Religious and Literary works which 
appear from the English press. In selecting from the former 
class, sectarianism will be studiously avoided ; from the latter, 
such only will be chosen as Christians may with propriety 
circulate. 

2. Translations of valuable works from the Continental 
press : and occasionally original productions of American 
writers. 

3. Standard works which may be out of print ; and se- 
lections from such as are accessible to but few. 

4. Brief reviews of such books as do not fall within the 
plan of this work ; so that the reader may be enabled to be- 
come speedily acquainted with most of the publications of the 
day, and to form, in some measure, an estimate of their value. 

The editors are pledged to favor no religious, much less 
any political party ; but to act on those great principles in 
which all Evangelical Christians agree. The degree of 
confidence which may be reposed in their faithfulness and 
ability will be learned from the attestations of the distinguished 
individuals given below. 

The publishers have made arrangements to receive from 
Europe copies of all popular works suitable for this publica- 
tion, as soon as they are issued from the press, and will be 
enabled on the above plan, to furnish, by course of mail, the 
most distant subscribers with their copies before the same 
book could be procured even in our cities, through the usual 
method of publication. 

The Christian Library is published semi-monthly, on 
fine paper, with a fair type, for five dollars a year. Each 
number will contain forty-eight extra-imperial or double me- 
dium octavo pages, in double column. The work will thus 
form two volumes of 576 pages each ; an amount of matter 
equal to thirty volumes 12mo, of 264 pages each. The 



8 NEW AND 

usual price of such volumes is from 50 to 75 cents ; on the 
plan of this publication, subscribers will receive them at 
16 1-2 cents each. 

The Postage on the Christian Library is 1 1-2 cts. per sheet 
under 100 miles, over that distance 2 1-2 cents. 

Terms. — Five dollars per annum, in advance, or six dollars 
at the end of the year. 

THE CHRISTIAN OBSERVER.— K.&B. also pub- 
lish the London Christian Observer ; same size and style as 
Christian Library ; subscription, $ 1 25 per annum, in ad- 
vance, or $ 1 50 if paid at the end of the year. The Ob- 
server and Library will be securely wrapped and mailed, so as 
to go to any part of the country. (The Observer has cost 
heretofore $ 6 per annum.) 

The Library & Observer are recommended in the high- 
est terms by the following distinguished gentlemen : — 

G. T. Bedell, D. D. ; Thomas M'Auley, D. D. L. L. D., 
Thomas Skinner, D. D., A. Nettleton, Author of Village 
Hymns, William T. Brantley, D. D., W. D. Snodgrass, D. 
D., G. R. Livingston, D. D., Stephen H. Tyug, D. D., A. 
Alexander, D. D., Rev. Charles Hodge, A. M., Rev. J. L. 
Dagg, Rev. Wm. E. Ashton, Samuel Miller, D. D., James 
Carnahan, D. D., Rev. J. Maclean, A. M., Rev. Albert B. 
Dod, A. M., Chas. P. M'llvaine, D. D. John Breckenridge, 
A. M., W. C. Brownlee, D. D., Rev. G. W. Ridgeley, A. M., 
Rev. Charles H. Alder, A. M., Cornelius D. Westbrooke, 
D. D., James Milnor, D. D., M. Eastburn, A. M., G. 
Spring, D. D., W. W. Phillips, D. D., Samuel H. Cox, D. 
D., R. M'Cartee, D. D., J. M. Matthews, D. D. 

If the first number, which we have received, is a fair spe- 
cimen of the work, we are prepared to speak of it in terms of 
the highest commendation. It contains the whole of the 
life of Robert Hall, by Dr. Gregory, and his character by 
Mr. Foster. We confess that we have shared in the alarm 
of many good people at the multiplication of books. We 
have been anxious to see " to what this would grow." We 
have felt alarm for the healthiness and vigour of the public 
mind. Such constant stuffing, such gorging with books, — 
surely, thought we, we shall have a generation of mental dys- 



POPULAR WORKS. 9 

peptics, or at the best, of bloated, pot-bellied epicures, instead 
of the hale, racy, well-proportioned minds of a former age. 
We have had a feeling of absolute despair, as we have peram- 
bulated the choked aisles of a modern book-store, and have 
felt that we needed Virgil's 

" Centum lingute, centumque ora," 
with the hundred hands of Briareus, if we ever expected to 
read and handle the myriads of new books. But we are 
cured of such feelings. We are glad to see a new book, if it 
be a good one. And we rejoice at every new expedient to 
make them as cheap as possible. Every good book will have 
a circle of patrons and readers, even if we can not read it, 
and there will be more good done on the whole, than by a 
smaller number of books. Besides, the only way to meet the 
armies of infidel and licentious books, is to array against 
them an equal number of good books. The book mania 
which has seized the public, must be satisfied in some way; 
and if there are not good books enough, and that too in the 
newest and most popular style, to fill the social and circulat- 
ing libraries, and give occupation to the millions of active 
minds in the country, their place will be filled by such books 
as the novels of Bulwer, and the poems of Byron and Shelly 
and Moore. Messrs. Key and Biddle, if they execute their 
plan as they have promised and begun, will deserve the thanks, 
and receive the patronage of the community. — Journal of 
Humanity. 

The first part of Vol. 1, of this periodical is before us. It 
is made up of a most interesting Memoir of the eloquent di- 
vine, Robert Hall, and the commencement of a History of the 
Reformed Religion in France. It would really seem that 
knowledge is about to be brought to every man's door, how- 
ever distant, and served up to him in the most agreeable 
forms for a mere trifle. — Commercial Herald. 

We have received the first number of the Christian Li- 
brary, which contains an intensely interesting Memoir of 
Robert Hall, by Olynthus Gregory. The incidents of the 
life of such a man, in the hands of such a writer, could not 
be otherwise than captivating. — Fredericksburg Arena. 

Judging from the plan of the work, and also from the 
number before us, we believe it well calculated to disseminate 
the light of the gospel, and we think that every Christian's 
library would be enriched by it. We would particularly re- 
commend it to the ministers of our church, who. from their 



10 NEW AND 

situation, being located in the " far west," have not an oppor- 
tunity of procuring the many valuable Looks which are issu- 
ing from the press in Europe and middle and eastern stutes. 
By subscribing for this work, in a few years, for a comparative 
trifle, they may possess an extensive and valuable religious 
library, calculated to impart to them useful and important in- 
formation, which is above all price; and to give them a per- 
fect knowledge of what is now doing for the extension of the 
Redeemer's kingdom throughout the world, and consequently, 
to keep them up with the spirit and improvements of the 
age. — Nash villc Revivalist. 

The Christian Library, of which Messrs. Key & Biddle, 
of Minor street, have just published the first part, is a work 
which will command the respect and patronage of all profess- 
ors of religion, irrespective of sects. The Library is con- 
ducted with a free, judicious spirit of selection; and if the 
first number may be deemed a fair specimen, will abound 
with instructive tales and useful matter. In so good a cause, 
the publishers deserve the hearty good will of those for 
whom they will furnish, at a price singularly reasonable, a 
large amount of most valuable information, on the most im- 
portant of all subjects. — Philadelphia Gazette. 

We beg leave to inform our country friends that the Chris- 
tian Library continues to deserve the approbation, and to de- 
mand the patronage of the religious and moral public. — 
American Sentinel. 

The plan of the Christian Library has met the decided 
approbation of the Clergy of various denominations, and as 
the selections made for it will be exempt from all tincture of 
sectarianism, we think it can not fail to be acceptable to Chris- 
tians of the different persuasions. — Berks <f- Schuylkill 
Journal. 

The first number of the Christian Library contains the 
Memoir of that interesting divine, Robert Hall, and is well 
executed. It will unquestionably prove a valuable work. — 
Baptist Mission <p Home Repository Record. 

The 3d part of vol. 1. is before us, in which we are glad 
to find a beginning of the life of Cowper, by Taylor. This 
life, alone, is worth more than a year's subscription. — Com- 
mercial Herald. 

The Christian Library. — We have just received the. 
first number of this truly valuable publication. From the 



POPULAR WORKS. 11 

prospectus, and recommendations which we had seen, we 
were prepared to think highly of the work, but the appear- 
ance of the first number far exceeds our expectations. It 
contains the Memoir of Rev. Robert Hall, by Dr. Gregory, 
and commences a valuable work on the " Reformation in 
France," by the Rev. Edward Smedlcy, of Cambridge, 
England. In the cheapness, and solid value of its materials, 
this work promises to surpass every thing of the kind hith- 
erto published. It is truly gratifying to see the periodical 
Press so efficiently employed in disseminating substantial 
religious knowledge, instead of the light trash and worse 
than useless fictions with which it has been hitherto bur- 
dened. 

We are in earnest in commending this publication, and 
sincerely hope that among all Christian people, it will utterly 
supplant the whole tribe of periodical novels, romances and 
the like. 

Among the many recommendations to this work, the 
Episcopalians of Ohio will notice that of our diocesan ex- 
pressed in no very measured terms. — Gambler Observer. 

Christian Library. — The style and .appearance, and, we 
may add, the contents of the first number, which we have 
before us, can not fail to meet the approbation of Evangelical 
Christians of every denomination. — Southern Religious 
Telegraph. 

Those who have leisure for extensive reading, and are de- 
termined to procure valuable works as they appear, will not 
grudge nine or ten cents per month to have such a volume 
brought to their door. The mail is much more usefully em- 
ployed in conveying the means of solid reading, than in the 
transportation of such trash as abounds in political papers 
and electioneering pamphlets. Papers and periodicals of 
this description are doing much to reform the public taste. 
The first number will furnish the reader with Dr. Gregory's 
Memoir of Hall. — Zion's Advocate, {Portland.) 

From the specimen before us we consider the Christian 
Library a very cheap and valuable work. — Christian Senti- 
nel. 

We anticipate a useful auxiliary to Christianity in this 
publication, and wish it much suceess. — Christian ^Guar- 
dian. 



12 NEW AND 

PHILOSOPHY OF A FUTURE STATE. 
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. 
CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHER. 

By Thomas Dick. 
Philadelphia, Key fy Biddle. 

In the first of the works whose titles head this article, 
Mr. Dick has endeavoured to prove, that man is an immortal 
being. His arguments are drawn from various sources, and 
he has judiciously availed himself of the recent discoveries 
in science, in illustrating the connexion of intellectual im- 
provement, with the state of future existence. 

Mr. Dick has displayed in this work, considerable extent 
of knowledge, and the industry manifested in collecting and 
arranging his numerous and diversified materials, will meet 
with the decided approbation of every intelligent Christian. 

The Philosophy of Religion is a production of no less 
value than the preceding, it is an attempt by the pious and 
indefatigable author, to illustrate the moral being of the uni- 
verse, and to delineate the obligations of man to God — to 
showhowreasonableandexcellentthe precepts of revealed reli- 
gion are, and how well they are adapted to the condition of man, 
how certainly their practical adoption is productive of peace 
and joy, and how bright under all circumstances are the 
hopes, and soothing the consolations of the Christian. It is 
an excellent book, and may be read with advantage, by all 
sect6 of Christians. 

The Christian Philosopher, which next claims our atten- 
tion, is to the philosophic inquirer more interesting than 
either of the preceding two. It is a scientific investigation 
into the existence and attributes of a great first cause, and 
the author has evidently come to his subject well prepared, 
securely assured, and ready to give a reasonable answer to 
the sceptical questioner for the hope that is within him. The 
author has successfully combated the ridiculous ideas of those 
zealous but ignorant christians who reject all human know- 
ledge as vain and useless. He has shown that the study 
and contemplation of the laws of the natural world, elevate 
the mind in its conceptions of the power, wisdom and good- 
ness of God, and that every advance in knowledge, every 
discovery in science, tends to confirm our faith, exalt our 
views and refine our dispositions, and thus improve us in 
moral and religious feelings and principles. 

Mr. Dick very justly observes that "the man who would 



POPULAR WORKS. 13 

discard the efforts of the human intellect, and the science of 
Nature from Religion, forgets— that He who is the author 
of human redemption is also the Creator and governor of 
the whole system of the material universe— that it is one end 
of that moral renovation which the Gospel effects, to qualify 
us for contemplating aright the displays of Divine Perfection 
which the works of creation exhibit, that the visible works 
of God are the principal medium by which he displays the 
attributes of this nature to intelligent beings — that the study 
and contemplation of these works employ the faculties of in- 
telligences of a superior order — that man, had he remained 
in primeval innocence, would have been chiefly employed in 
such contemplations — that it is one main design of divine re- 
velation to illustrate the operations of Providence, and the 
agency of God in the formation and preservation of all things — 
and that the scriptures are full of sublime descriptions of the 
visible creation, and of interesting references to the various ob- 
jects which adorn the scenery of nature. In these opinions we 
entirely concur, and we are certain that every believer in the 
Gospel of Christ, will have his soul expanded, his energies 
awakened, and all his faculties and powers enlarged by in- 
vestigating the laws of the Universe. God is every where; 
we perceive his wisdom in the organization of a man, and 
a tree; every animal on earth, all objects in nature, organized 
or unorganized, exhibit the power, the skill, and the benevo- 
lence of the Creator. 

Mr. Dick's book contains many important facts in relation 
to the laws of matter and motion, illustrated by familiar ex- 
positions, and well adapted to the comprehension of the gen- 
eral reader. We have rarely perused a work with more 
pleasure and profit, and we are confident that it will prove 
a valuable and useful addition to every family library. To 
the young divine just commencing his ministerial labours, it 
will be of much benefit, it will supply him with topics for ex- 
emplification, upon which he can expatiate with the fervour 
and eloquence of genius, and all the enthusiasm of a finer, 
but rational and ardent Christian. 

In dismissing these productions of Mr. Dick, we cordially 
commend them to the attention of our readers. 

EXAMPLE; OR FAMILY SCENES.— This is one 
of those useful and truly moral publications which can not 
fail to be read with delight by the youth of both sexes, who, 
as their hearts expand, and they advance in years, have need 
of some instructor to point out the path they should follow 
for their future happiness. The author has been triumphantly 
2 



14 NEW AND 

successful in attaining these laudable objects in this interes- 
ting publication." Weekly Times. 

The form of a domestic story is here judiciously selected 
for imparting a purity of religious feeling to juvenile readers; 
and the purpose as fully answered. Adults may also read this 
interesting volume with much benefit. United Kingdom. 

FOX'S BOOK OF MARTYRS. A Universal His- 
tory of Christian Martyrdom, from the Birth of our Blessed 
Saviour to the latest Periods of Persecution. Originally com- 
posed by the Rev. John Fox, A. M., and now corrected 
throughout; with copious and important additions relative to 
the Recent Persecutions in the south of France. In 2 vols. 
8vo., beautifully printed on fine and remarkably strong pa- 
per. Being the only complete and unmutilated edition of 
this work ever presented to the American Public. Embel- 
lished with a Portrait of the venerable Fox, and Sixty En- 
gravings illustrative of the sufTering Martyrs in all ages of 
the world. 

" We commend the enterprise of the publishers, which has 
induced them to incur the heavy expense requisite for the pro- 
duction of this costly and elegant book. They have thereby 
rendered a service to the cause of true Christianity; and we 
can not doubt that they will meet with ample remuneration 
in the approbation of the public. An additional recommen- 
dation is furnished in the extreme lowness of the price, 
thereby rendering the book accessible to the pocket of every 
class of Christians. It is a work of intense interest; and 
whether as a volume of Ecclesiastical History, or for occa- 
sional perusal, richly merits a place on the shelves of every 
family library." Christian Advocate. 

GUY ON ASTRONOMY, AND AN ABRIDGE- 
MENT OF KEITH ON THE GLOBES, 2 volumes 
in 1, 18mo. 

A school book of this sort has long been a desideratum in 
our seminaries. It comprises a popular Treatise on Astrono- 
my ; together with the admirably clear definitions, and nearly 
all the problems of Keith. The whole is contained in a neat 
volume, and alibrded at a very low price. The publishers 



POPULAR WORKS. 15 

would particularly call the attention of parents and teachers 
to the above work. 

HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, in 1 vol. 
12mo. By Thomas Hughs. Embellished with a great 
number of beautiful wood cuts. 

The publishers announce this work with the hightest feel- 
ings of satisfaction. The three objects they have had in view 
are cheapness, beauty of embellishment, and novelty of mat- 
ter, combined with accuracy of research. The name of the 
author (who is already favourably known by several previous 
works for schools) is a sufficient guarantee of the manner in 
which this book will be executed. It will not be uninteresting 
to state that the sources from which some of the materials of 
this school book are derived, are inaccessible to any except 
the present writer; whose business it has also been to attempt 
the attainment of that which has hitherto been overlooked, 
as of no importance, viz: elegance of style, which may in- 
terest at the same time that it will aid in forming the taste of 
the youthful reader. 

A HARMONY OP THE FOUR GOSPELS. 
Founded on the Arrangement of the. Harmonia Evangelica, 
by the Rev. Edward Greswell. With the Practical Reflec- 
tions of Dr. Doddridge. Designed for the use of Families 
and Schools, and for Private Edification. By the Rev. 
E. Bickersteth, Rector of Wolton, Herts." 

A beautiful duodecimo of about four hundred pages ; and 
one of the best books which has appeared for many years, 
with respect to personal and domestic edification. It is next 
to impossible to read the ordinary Harmonies. The current 
of the narrative is broken by constant interruptions. In this, 
we have in convenient sections, the four Gospel histories, 
made up into one, in proper order, in the words of the com- 
mon English translation. The devotional notes of Dodd- 
ridge are better than any we have seen for reading in the 
closet or at family worship. The name of Bickersteth, pre- 
fixed to a book, is enough to show that it is written simply to 
serve the cause of Christ. The Presbyterian. 

Messrs. Key &Biddle of this city, have published a beautiful 
edtion of a popular Harmony of the Four Gospels. A book giv- 
ing a connected and chronological view of the History of our 
Saviour, without an array of critical apparatus which is useless 
and repulsive to the common reader, has long been a desider- 



16 NEW AND 

atum in our religious literature. It is now supplied by the 
labours of Mr. Bickersteth, wlio is well known as an able, 

Judicious and pious writer. Each section of the text is fol- 
owed by brief practical reflections, from the pen of Dr. 
Doddridge. The volume is well adapted to the purposes for 
which it was designed by the author. — " The use of families 
and schools, and for private edification." Phila. Gaz. 

The religious community will take delight in reading a 
work just published, entitled "A Harmony of the Four 
Gospels." Scarcely any thing has so much puzzled a certain 
order of minds, as the apparent disagreement of parts of the 
New Testament. Nothing so much weakens Christian 
faith as an impression of this sort — whilst nothing tends 
more directly to confirm and strengthen it, than evidence of 
the entire oneness and harmony of the Gospels. — Com. 
Herald. 

THE HUMOURIST'S OWN BOOK. A cabinet of 
original and selected anecdotes, bon mots, sports of fancy, and 
traits of character ; intended to furnish occasion for reflec- 
tion as well as mirth. By the author of the Young Man's 
Own Book, &c. 

It is good to be pleased ; and the book which can chase a 
care, or enliven a brow, provided it be pure, is worthy of 
honest recommendation. Such is the character of the volume 
entitled The Humourist's Own Book, recently published 
by Messrs. Key and Biddle. The work is made of good 
things, carefully culled ; and the man who can run over them 
all, without a laugh or a smile, is fit for treason. — Pkila. 
Gazette. 

Ha ! ye merry dogs, if you want to shake your sides with 
laughter buy this book, for here you have the most delightful 
and varied collection of bon mots, anecdotes, &c, that we 
have ever seen. — And ye! ye! melancholic, hypochondriacal 
beings, whose countenances are always demure — imagina- 
tions always gloomy, and whose risible muscles are never 
excited to a smile, to say nothing of a laugh, get the book, 
and your souls will be gladdened with joy — your hearts will 
swell with rapture, and if you don't hold your sides tight, 
you'll run the risk of bursting them with laughter. 

It is a charming little work, and the collections have been 
made with much care and judgment. — Saturday Courier. 

Messrs. Key & Biddle have published a neat little volum* 



POPULAR WORKS. 17 

entitled, The Humourist's Own Book. It is a feast of fat 
things. — United States Gazette. 

This is a neat volume of original and selected anecdotes, 
bon mots, &c. They are well chosen, and in every respect 
unexceptionable, fit for the perusal of the most delicate and 
fastidious. — Bait. American and Com. Advertiser. 

THE HAPPINESS OF THE BLESSED, consid- 
ered as to the particulars of their state; their recognition of 
each other in that state; and its difference of degrees. To 
which are added, Musings on the Church and her services. 
By Richard Mant, D. D. M. R. I. A. Lord Bishop of Down 
and Connor. 

The design of the Rev. author in this production, is to 
adduce from scriptural authority, the most satisfactory evi- 
dence, of the happiness and joy of those who by faith follow 
Christ, and who in the exercise of those virtues required by 
the Gospel, are emphatically denominated the children of 
God. The author has touched upon several topics connected 
with the subject, which must afford much consolation to the 
Christian, who from the very nature of his organization, is 
liable to doubts and fearful forebodings as to the state of his 
heart and the grounds of his faith. 

Christian hope, confidence, and charity, are stamped upon 
every page, and the writer deserves well of the Christian 
inquirer, Tor the industry which he has displayed in collecting 
and arranging so many important and valuable arguments in 
favour of the glorious and resplendent state of the faithful and 
humble disciple of Jesus. 

In this world, mankind have need of consolation — of the 
Cup of sorrow all must drink — happiness is a phantom, a 
meteor, beautiful and bright, always alluring us by its glow — 
forever within our reach, but eternally eluding our grasp — 
but this state of things was designed by our Creator for our 
benefit — it was intended to withdraw our affections from the 
shadowy and unsubstantial pleasures of the world, to the 
Father of all in Heaven, and to prepare by discipline and zeal, 
for a state, beyond the grave, of felicity, which eye hath not 
seen, ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered into the 
heart of man to conceive of. To our readers we cheerfully 
commend this delightful volume, confident that by its perusal 
the faith of the doubtful will be confirmed, and the anticipa- 
tive hope of the confident increased. Christian's Magazine. 



18 NEW AND 

We take the earliest opportunity of introducing to onr 
readers this excellent little book, to which the deeply interest- 
ing nature of the subject and the well earned reputation of 
the Right Rev. author will secure no inconsiderable portion 
of attention. The vast importance of the topics herein treated, 
and the valuable practical effects they may assist in producing, 
induce us to call thus early the public attention to a work, 
small indeed in size, but which is calculated not a little to in- 
form all candid and serious inquirers into a subject hitherto 
involved in much obscurity, but not a little elucidated by the 
present author. — Gentleman's Magazine, 

All which are entitled to much commendation, as tending 
to familiarize the young student with the exact phraseology 
of the New Testament, and calculated to recall it, in an 
agreeable wav, to the memory of the more advanced Scho- 
lar.— Lit. Gazette. 

It possesses much substantive merit, and is the best Key 
to Chronology of the Gospel History we have met with. — 
Atheneeum. 

"We have looked over, with great pleasure, a neat little 
volume of 188 pages, just published by Key & Biddle, of this 
City, bearing the title of " The Happiness of the Blessed." 
It is divided into four chapters, and these chapters into sec- 
tions — each section being confined to the particular subject 
designated in it. We are much pleased with the entire 
work— but more particularly with the discussion on the 
probability of the blessed recognizing each other, in the hea- 
venly world. Cowper, the poet, we remember, reasons in a 
couple of his letters most delightfully on the subject. 

We cordially recommend this little work. Bishop Mant, 
the author, has opened a spring in it, whence pure and 
wholesome waters will long flow, to refresh and benefit the 
world. — Coimnercial Herald. 

The Happiness of the Blessed, by Dr Mant, Bishop of 
Down and Connor. — Published by Key & Biddle. This 
work is got up with the usual elegance of those enterprising 
publishers. It is a work of considerable metaphysical re- 
search; is written in a style of animated piety; and whether 
to the professing Christian or the general reader, will readily 
repay a perusal. — Daily Chronicle. 

JOURNAL OP A NOBLEMAN:-Ecing a narrative 
of his residence at Vienna, during Congress. 

The author is quite spirited in his remarks on occur- 



POPULAR WORKS. 19 

rences, and his sketches of character are picturesque and 
amusing. We commend this volume to our readers as a very 
entertaining production. — Daily Intelligencer. 

"We presume no one could take up this little volume and 
dip into it, without feeling regret at being obliged by any 
cause to put it down before it was read. The style is fine, 
as are the descriptions, the persons introduced, together with 
the anecdotes, and in general, the entire sketching is by the 
hand of a master. Every thing appears natural — there is no 
affectation of learning — no overstraining — no departure from 
what one would expect to see and hear — all is easy — all 
graceful." — Commercial Herald. 

The volume is a beautiful one; and the matter of it, judg- 
ing from more than a cursory perusal, is well worthy a re- 
commendation, as offering a fair insight into the doings and 
follies of the great, in one of the celebrated capitals of Eu- 
rope. — Sat. Eve. Post. 

LIFE OF A SAILOR— By a Captain in the Navy. 
Two very interesting volumes.— U. S. Gaz. 

"It is from the pen of Captain Chamier, and contains many 
powerful sketches. — Penn'a. Inquirer. 

" The Sailor, who has thus given his life to the world, 
spins as clever a yarn as any landsman or marine would like 
to see recorded. He seems to have been almost every where 
and to have seen nearly every body; and he describes with 
such earnestness and perspicuity, that you are sure he must 
have depicted things just as he found them — penning his re- 
cord when his recollections were fresh, and preserving through- 
out, an aim to be graphic and impressive. He has succeed- 
ed fully, in his effort ; and all who procure his " log," will 
find it as exciting a piece of work, as they ever had the felicity 
to meet with..— Phil. Gaz. 

Key & Biddle, Philadelphia, have published The Life 
of a Sailor, by Captain Frederick Chamier, R. N. in 2 
vols. 12 mo. neatly bound in embossed cloth. 

Most various and amusing volumes, embodying the real 
Adventures of a Captain of the Navy. — Lit. Gaz. 

Captain Chamier has had a full share of adventure and 
undoubtedly possesses a facility of style, and a playful man- 
ner. If there ever was a story to excite sympathy, to interest 
the feelings, and awaken the imagination of the reading 



20 NEW AND 

world, it is the story of Sharks in this Autobiography. — 

Spectator. 

LIVES OF BANDITTI AND ROBBERS— By C. 
Macfarland, Esq., together with a sketch of the Lives of 
BLACKBEARD, and CAPTAIN KID, by the Ame- 
rican editor. 

This work is deeply interesting throughout ; it is full o( 
anecdote, bold adventure, daring enterprise, and the narra- 
tive is clear and vigorous — and such are the characters of 
these reckless outcasts of society and the interest in which 
their lives are invested, that we commend it to our readers, con- 
fident that they will be highly entertained. — Sat. Cour. 

These lives, and indeed the whole volume, are of the 
deepest interest — there is nothing in this edition which would 
exclude it from the eyes of the ladies, some improper remarks 
and a very few uninteresting details, having been excluded, 
which are more than compensated for, even as regards quan- 
tity of reading, by the addition made by the American Edi- 
tor. The volume itself is one of the neatest we have lately 
seen, having in fact the appearance of an English Edition — 
it is on very fine white paper, and the impression of the type 
clear and distinct. — Saturday Evening Post. 

Many of the stories in this volume are exceedingly inter- 
esting. — Nat. Gaz. 

We have before us Lives of Banditti and Robbers, in 
one volume, including the lives of Blackbeard and Captain 
Kidd, prepared for the American Edition. These lives, and 
indeed the whole volume are of the deepest interest. — U. S. 
Gazette. 

The dangers, hardships, and reckless daring of these 
lawless depredators, often impart an intense interest to the 
relation of their deeds, and this interest is not unfrequently 
increased, by their adding generosity to heroism. — N. Y. 
Com. Advertiser. 

LEGENDS OF THE WEST— By James Hall, se- 
cond edition, containing the following beautiful told tales: 
The Backwoodsman The Intestate 

The Divining Rod Michael De Lancey 

The Seventh Son The Emigrants 

The Missionaries The Indian Hater 



POPULAR WORKS. 21 

A Legend of Carondelet The Isle of the Yellow Sands 

The Barrackmaster's Daughter. 

The Indian Wife's Lament. 

We are glad to see a new edition of these well told tales 
of Judge Hall, has recently been published. — Boston Eve. 
Gazette. 

The deserved popularity of these tales of Judge Hall, 
have secured to it the publication of a second edition. His 
sketches are admirably drawn, and his personal familiarity 
with scenery and life in the West have furnished him with 
incidents of peculiar interest, greatly increased by felicitous 
description. — N. Y. Com. Advertiser. 

A second edition of Legends of the West has just been 
published; a work to which we have before alluded in de- 
served praise. The favour which the work has found with 
the public, may be seen in the demand for its repetition. It 
deserves, in every respect, the reception it has met with. — 
Sat. Eve. Post. 

Legends op the West. By James Hall. 
Philadelphia. Key fy Biddle. 

The rapid sale of the first, has created a demand for a se- 
cond edition of the work, whose title heads this article. 

The "Legends" comprise twelve articles, one of which 
is poetic. The scenes of these tales are all located in the 
„ far, far West," and the characters are taken from the abo- 
rigines and early emigrants. The difficulties and dangers 
which the first settlers had to undergo, ere they were esta- 
blished in security, are depicted in glowing colours, and with 
a master hand. 

The rude and savage warfare of the Indians, the secret 
ambuscade, the midnight slaughter, the conflagration of the 
log hut in the prairie and forest, the shrieks of consuming 
women and children, are presented to our minds by the au- 
thor in vivid and impressive language. These tales possess 
much interest, as they are founded in fact, and are illustra- 
tive of the habits of the Indian, and the life of the hunter. 
As a writer, Judge Hall is more American than any other 
we possess ; his scenes are American ; his characters are Ame- 
rican, and his language is American. His personages are 
invested with an individuality which can not be mistaken, 
and his conceptions and illustrations are drawn from the 
great store house of nature. — Daily Intelligencer. 



22 NEW AND 

LIFE OF WILLIAM COWPER, Esa— Compiled 
from his correspondence and other authenticated sources of 
information, containing remarks on his writings, and on the 
peculiarities of his interesting character, never before pub- 
lished. By Thomas Taylor. 

Extract from the Preface. 

Many Lives of Cowper have already been published. 
Why then, it may be asked, add to their number? Simply 
because in the opinion of competent judges, no memoir of him 
has yet appeared that gives a full, fair, and unbiassed view 
of his character. 

It is remarked by Dr. Johnson, the poet's kinsman, in his 
preface to the two volumes of Cowper's Private Correspon- 
dence, " that Mr. Haley omitted the insertion of several 
interesting letters in his excellent Life of the poet out of 
kindness to his readers.'' In doing this, however amiable 
and considerate as his caution must appear, the gloominess 
which he has taken from the mind of Cowper, has the effect 
of involving his character in obscurity. 

In alluding to these suppressed letters, the late highly es- 
teemed Leigh Richmond once emphatically remarked — 
"Cowper's character will never be clearly and satisfactorily 
understood without them, and should be permitted to exist 
for the demonstration of the case. I know the importance 
of it from numerous conversations I have had, both in Eng- 
land and Scotland, on this subject. Persons of truly reli- 
gious principles, as well as those of little or no religion at 
all, have greatly erred in their estimate of this great and 
good man." 

In this work all that is necessary and much that is painful 
to know, is told of Cowper, and well told too. — His life was 
much wanted, and we have no doubt that it will be univer- 
sally read and become, like the poems of the man it com- 
memorates, a standard work. Mr. Taylor has our hearty 
thanks for having produced this work, and our commenda- 
tions no less hearty for having produced it so well. — Metro- 
politan. 

LETTERS TO AN ANXIOUS INQ.UIRER, DE- 
SIGNED TO RELIEVE THE DIFFICULTIES OF 
A FRIEND, UNDER SERIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
Bv T. Carlton Henry, D. D. late Pastor of the Second 



POPULAR WORKS. 23 

Piresbyterian Church, Charleston, S. C. With an Intro- 
ductory Essay, (in which is presented Dr. Henry's Preface to 
his Letters, and his Life, by a friend.) By G. T. Bedell, 
D. D. Rector of St. Andrew's Church, Philadelphia. 

MEMOIRS OF HORTENSE BEAUHARNAIS, 
DUCHESS OF ST. LEU AND EX-Q.UEEN OF 
HOLLAND. 

This is an interesting account of a conspicuous character. 
She was the daughter of Josephine Beauharnais, alias, or af- 
terwards, Josephine Buonaparte, former wife of Napoleon of 
France ; and she became the wife of Louis Buonaparte, the 
ex-king of Holland. Of those who have figured as large on 
the great theatre of life, at one of the most memorable eras 
in history, many interesting anecdotes are given. We can 
safely recommend this work to the reading public. — Ameri- 
can Sentinel. 

No one of all those distinguished personages who occupied 
so large a space in the world's eye, from their connexion with 
Napoleon, presents a story of deeper interest than the amia- 
ble and accomplished subject of these memoirs. Possessing 
all the grace and fascination of manner, which so eminently 
characterized her mother the Empress Josephine, she has a 
strength and cultivation of intellect ; an extent and variety of 
knowledge; and a philosophic fortitude which the empress 
never could boast. Unhappy in her marriage, she was yet 
a devoted wife and fond mother ; and though gifted with 
every quality to adorn royalty, she willingly withdrew to the 
shades of private life, resigning the crown she had embellished 
without a murmur. 

Many of the details of this work will be found deeply inter- 
esting, and the notes are copious and instructing. The 
translator has faithfully preserved the spirit of his original. — 
Saturday Courier. 

Sometime ago we read this little volume in French, and 
found it strongly attractive. We regard it as an autobiog- 
raphy in great part. The historical as well as the personal 
details reward attention. — National Gazette. 

No one of all those distinguished personages who occupied 
so large a space in the world's eye, from their connexion with 
Napoleon, presents a story of deeper interest, than the amia- 



24 NEW AND 

ble and accomplished subject of these memoirs. " Possessing 
all the grace and fascination of manner, which so eminently 
characterized her mother, the Empress Josephine, she has a 
strength and cultivation of intellect, an extent and variety 
of knowledge, and a philosophic fortitude, which the empress 
never could boast. Unhappy in her marriage, she was yet 
a devoted wife and fond mother; and though gifted with 
every quality to adorn royalty, she willingly withdrew to the 
shades of private life, resigning the crown she had embellished 
without a murmur." The work belongs to the many me- 
moranda we have of that extraordinary man, whose family 
history is not complete without it. — American Traveller. 

"We have never taken up a book containing anecdotes of the 
eventful period of which this little volume treats, and especi- 
ally of the great actors in that wonderful drama, without ex- 
periencing some of the sensations which attend upon the 
sight of some mighty ruin ; or beholding the place in the 
ocean where fleets and armies have been swallowed up. Some- 
times they appear to us like those distant and dark clouds, 
whose edges are fringed with the red light of the setting sun, 
and in whose bosom is seen to struggle the pent up lightning. 
This work will be read, we are certain, with great interest. — 
Commercial Herald. 

NEW AMERICAN SPEAKER, being an entirely 
new selection of Speeches, Dialogues, and Poetry, for the 
use of Schools. By Thomas Hughs, Compiler of the Uni- 
versal Class Book and the American Popular Reader. 

A rich collection of pieces from some of the first writers 
in the English language, furnishing a most abundant supply 
of exercises in elocution and declamation. It should find ad- 
mission into every academy, college, and high school, where 
it is an object to form the taste, as well as teach the art of 
speaking. 

American Speaker. — A volume with this title, com- 
prising upwards of two hundred pages, has just been issued 
by Messrs. Key & Biddle, of this city. It has been com- 
piled by Thomas Hughs, Esq., the compiler of the ' Univer- 
sal Class Book' and the ' American Popular Reader,' and is 
designed for the use of schools. It embraces a e election or 
speeches, dialogues and poetry, made up with great discern- 



POPULAR WORKS. 25 

ment, we think, from the best authors, foreign and domestic, 
ancient and modern. Mr. Hughs is well calculated to ren- 
der such a book valuable, and from the perusal we have given 
many of the articles, we should suppose this ' Speaker' would 
soon find a place in most of our public seminaries. 

Among the American writers, whose productions have 
been introduced into this volume, we observe with pleasure 
the names of Hopkinson, Brown, Canning, Payne, Web- 
ster, Everett, Ames, Clay, Randolph, Hallcck, Bryant, 
Adams, and others. We shall enrich our first page with ex- 
tracts from it in a day or two, and take pleasure in commend- 
ing it to those having charge of our public and private 
schools. — Pennsylvania Inquirer. 

IRISH ELOaUENCE.— The Speeches of the cele- 
brated Irish Orators, Phillips, Curran, and Grattan; to 
which is added, the Powerful Appeal of Robert Emmett, 
at the close of his trial for high treason . In 1 vol. 8vo. 

The above work forms a complete and unique school of 
Irish oratory. To every member of the bar, to every clergy- 
man, to every aspirant to political influence and admission 
into the legislative halls of his country, this practical text 
book of eloquence will be an honoured manual ; and scarcely 
less does it recommend itself to every lover of literature, and 
each promoter of his country's good, who will both be re- 
warded for the purchase, the one by its high literary merits, 
and the other in the glowing pictures it presents to him of per- 
sonal sacrifice on the altar of public weal. — United States 
Gazette. 

The Speeches of Phillips, Curran, Grattan, and Emmett, 
have been published in a neat octavo volume, by Key & Bid- 
die, of this city. 

It is unnecessary for us to say any thing as to the merit of 
these splendid displays of eloquence, which have stamped an 
immortality on the above named orators. Their merits are 
well known, and wherever these speeches have been read, 
they have been admired. 

The volume is neatly " got up," the paper is good, the type 
is clear, bold and legible, and the binding is substantial and 
durable. — Daily Intelligencer. 

THE SOLDIER'S BRIDE, AND OTHER TALES, 
by James Hall, Esq.., author of " Legends of the West," 
&c. 

3 



26 NEW AND 

CONTENTS. 

1. The Soldier's Bride. 

2. Cousin Lucy and the Village Teacher. 

3. Empty Pockets. 

4. The Captain's Lady. 

5. The Philadelphia Dun. 

6. The Bearer of Despatches. 

7. The Village Musician. 

8. Fashionable Watering-Places. 

9. The Useful Man. 

10. The Dentist. 

11. The Bachelor's Elysium. 

12. Pete Featherton. 

13. The Billiard Table. 

We have just risen from the perusal of the Soldier's Bride. 
The impression it leaves upon the mind is like that which 
we receive from the sight of a landscape of rural beauty and 
repose — or from the sound of rich and sweet melody. Every 

|>art of this delightful tale is redolent of moral and natural 
oveliness. The writer belongs to the same class with Irving 
and Paulding ; and as in his descriptions, characters and 
incidents, he never loses sight of the true and legitimate 
purpose of fiction, the elevation of the taste and moral cha- 
racter of his readers, he will contribute his full share to the 
creation of sound and healthful literature. — United States 
Gazette. 

Key & Biddle have recently published another series of 
Tales — the Soldier's Bride, &c. by James Hall. The approba- 
tion every where elicited by Judge Hall's Legends of the 
"West, has secured a favourable reception for the present vo- 
lume ; and its varied and highly spirited contents, consisting of 
thirteen tales, will be found no less meritorious than his pre- 
vious labours. — National Gazette. 

"We have found much to admire in the perusal of this in- 
teresting work. It abounds in correct delineation of charac- 
ter, and although in some of his tales, the author's style is 
familiar, yet he has not sacrificed to levity the dignity of his 
pen, nor tarnished his character as a chaste and classical 
writer. At the present day, when the literary world is flooded 
with fustian and insipidity, and the public taste attempted to 
be vitiated by the weak and effeminate productions of those 






POPULAR WORKS. 27 

whose minds are as incapable of imagining the lofty and 
generous feelings they would pouitray, as their hearts are of 
exercising them, it is peculiarly gratifying to receive a work, 
from the pages of which the eye may cater with satisfaction, 
and the mind feast with avidity and benefit. — Pittsburg 
Mercury. 

THE TESTIMONY OF NATURE AND REVE- 
LATION TO THE BEING, PERFECTIONS AND 
GOVERNMENT OF GOD. By the Rev. Henry Fer- 
gus, Dunfermline, Author of the History of the United 
States of America, till the termination of the War of In- 
dependence, in Lardners' Cyclopedia. 

The Rev. Mr. Fergus's Testimony of Nature and Reve- 
lation to the Being, Perfection and Government of God, is 
an attempt to do in one volume what the Bridgwater Trea- 
tises are to do in eight. We wish one-eighth of the reward 
only may make its way to Dunfermline. Mr. Fergus's 
Treatise goes over the whole ground with fervour and ability; 
it is an excellent volume, and may be had for somewhere 
about half the price of one Bridgwater octavo. London 
Spectator. 

TALES OF ROMANCE, FIRST SERIES. This 
is not only an uncommonly neat edition, but a very enter- 
taining book ; how could it be otherwise when such an array 
of authors as the following is presented. 

The work contains Ali's Bride, a tale from the Persian, by 
Thomas Moore, interspersed with poetry. The Last of the 
Line, by Mrs. S. C. Hall, an author who sustains a reputa- 
tion which every succeeding production greatly enhances. 
The Wire Merchant's Story, by the author of the King's 
Own. The Procrastinator, by T. Croften Croker. The 
Spanish Beadsman. The Legend of Rose Rocke, by the 

author of Stories of Waterloo. Barbara S , by 

Charles Lamb. A Story of the Heart. The Vacant Chair, 
by J. M. Wilson; and the Queen of the Meadows, by Miss 
Mitford. 

This volume has no pretentions to the inculcation of 
mawkish sensibility. We have read every word of it, and 
can confidently recommend it to our friends. — Journal of 
Belles Letters. 



28 NEW AND 

YOUNG MAN'S OWN BOOK.— A Manual of Po- 
liteness, Intellectual Improvement, and Moral Deportment, 
calculated to form the character on a solid basis, and to in- 
sure respectability and success in life. 

Its contents are made up of brief and well written essays 
upon subjects very judiciously selected, and will prove a use- 
ful and valuable work to those who give it a careful reading, 
and make proper use of those hints which the author throws 
out. — Bostun Traveller. 

We cheerfully recommend a perusal of the Young Man's 
Own Book to all our young friends, for we are convinced that 
if they read it faithfully, they will find themselves both wiser 
and better. — The Young Mali's Advocate. 

In the Young Man's Own Book, much sound advice, 
upon a variety of important subjects is administered, and a 
large number of rules are laid down for the regulation of con- 
duct, the practice of which can not fail to ensure respecta- 
bility. — Saturday Courier. 

YOUNG LADY'S OWN BOOK, a Manual of Intel- 
lectual Improvement and Moral Deportment. By the author 
of the Young Man's Own Book. 

Messrs. Key and Biddle, of this city, have published a 
very neat little volume, entitled, The Young Lady's Own 
Book. Its contents are well adapted to its useful purpose. — 
National Gazette. 

The Young Lady's Own Book seems to us to have 
been carefully prepared, to comprehend much and various 
instruction of a practical character, and to correspond in its 
contents with its title. — Young Man's Advocate. 

The Young Lady's Own Book, embellished with beauti- 
ful engravings, should be in the hands of every young fe- 
male. — Inquirer. 

All the articles in" the Young Lady's Own Book are of 
a useful and interesting character. — N. Y. Com. Adv. 

WACOUSTA, OR THE PROPHECY; A Tale 

OF THE CaNADAS. 2 Vols. 

This work is of a deeply interesting character, and justly 
lays claim to be of the highest cast. We think it decidedly 



POPULAR WORKS. 29 

superior to any production of the kind which has recently 
emanated from the press. It abounds with thrilling scenes, 
and the author has displayed a power of delineation rarely 
surpassed. — Daily Intelligencer. 

We have read it, and unhesitatingly pronounce it one of 
the most deeply interesting works of fiction which has met 
our eye for many a month. It is a historical novel — the 
scenes of which are laid principally at Detroit and Macki- 
na — and some of the tragic events which those places wit- 
nessed in the early settlement of the country, are given with 
historic accuracy — particularly the massacre of Mackina. — 
The author is evidently conversant with Indian strategem 
and with Indian eloquence ; and has presented us with spe- 
cimens of both, truly characteristic of the untutored savage. 
We would gladly present our readers with an extract from 
this interesting work, did our limits permit. In lieu of an ex- 
tract, however, we commend the work itself to them. — Com- 
mercial Herald. 

The principal personage of this novel is a savage chief, 
and the story of his retreat, bearing off captive the daughter 
of the Governor, is told with thrilling effect. It is well 
written throughout, and abounds with interesting scenes. — 
Commercial Advertiser. 

ZOE, OR THE SICILIAN SAYDA'.— As an his- 
torical romance, embellished with the creations of a lively 
imagination, and adorned with the beauties of a classic mind, 
this production will take a high rank, and although not so 
much lauded as a Cooper or an Irving, he may be assured 
that by a continuance of his efforts, he will secure the ap- 
probation of his countrymen, and the reward of a wide spread 
fame. — Daily Intelligencer. 

We do not call attention to this on account of any previ- 
ous reputation of its author; it possesses intrinsic merit, and 
will obtain favour because it merits it. It is historical, and 
the name and circumstances are to be found in the records of 
those times. The plot is ably conceived, the characters are 
vividly, and some are fearfully drawn. — Boston American 
Traveller. 

We lately spoke in terms of approbation of a new novel 
from the pen of a young American, entitled "Zoe; or the 
Sicilian Sayda." A friend, who has read it with great 
pleasure, and who speaks of its merits in strong terms of 
praise, has furnished us with the following notice ;— 
3* 



30 NEW AND 

"The book wherever read is admired, and among a con- 
siderable variety of persons, learned and ignorant, grave and 
gay, sad and serious, all have but one manifestation of feel- 
ing — and that feeling delight. 

Cooper has been called the Scott, and Irving the Addison 
of America; and the author of Zoe, without any imputation 
of vanity or arrogance, can justly lay claim to some of the 
attributes of both. With all the description, energy, and 
grandeur of the former, he possesses the classic graces, and 
elegant refinements of the latter. Comparisons, it is said, 
are always odious, but, as in this instance, we have brought 
forward the names of two of our most distinguished country- 
men in the field of American letters, not for the purpose of 
detracting from their high and justly appreciated merits, but 
for adding another one to the number of this small but bril- 
liant galaxy, we shall be acquitted of any sinister attempt to 
elevate another at the expense of those whose fame is 
widely spread and firmly established. 

Zoe is a production, which will rank among the highest and 
most successful creations of the imagination. It is replete 
with interest, from the first chapter to the last; the story 
never flags, the dialogues never tire ; and the varied charac- 
ters who figure in the plot, are invested with an individuality 
which at once impresses upon the mind the graphic skill, and 
vivid conceptions of the author. Interesting and all absorb- 
ing as the personages are, there is one, however, of whom to 
read is to love; the dark-eyed, feeling, beautiful and self-sacri- 
ficing Zoe. It is she that appears embodied before our eyes, 
in all the fascination of beauty ; and it is she that we part 
with in all the combined feelings of affection, admiration and 
regret. 

But it is not our purpose to pourtray the charming heroine 
of the story. 

For the nameless attraction of her mind, the glowing ardour 
of her feelings, and the thousand fascinating charms with 
which she was invested, — we must refer our readers to the 
book itself. 

In conclusion, we commend Zoe to all who are fond of an 
interesting romance — to all who desire to become acquainted 
with and encourage the merits of our native literature." — 
Pennsylvania Inquirer. 



POPULAR WORKS. 31 



NEW WORKS, 

IN PRESS, 

BY KEY § BIDDLE, 

THE HOME BOOK OF HEALTH AND MEDI- 
CINE, being a popular treatise on the means of Avoiding 
and Curing Diseases, and of Preserving the Health and 
Vigour of the Body to the latest period: including a full ac- 
count of the Diseases of Women and Children. 

THE YOUNG MAN'S SUNDAY BOOK.— In con- 
tinuation of the Series commenced by the Young Man's 
Own Book. 

THE WORLD AS IT IS, AND OTHER TALES. 

THE YOUNG CHRISTIAN'S BOOK. By G. T. 
Bedell, D. D. 

THE JOURNAL OF A LUNATIC. 

PROGRESSIVE EXPERIENCE OF THE 
HEART. By Mrs. Stevens. 

YOUNG LADY'S SUNDAY BOOK. By the Au- 
thor of the Young Lady's Own Book. 

THE FAMILY BOOK; a series of Discourses, with 
Prayers for each Sunday evening in the year ; with an In- 
troductory Essay. By the Rev. John Breckinridge. 

HARPE'S HEAD. A Legend of Kentucky. By the 
Author of Legends of the West. 

LETTERS FROM THE NORTH OF EUROPE. 
By Charles Boileau Elliott, Esq. 

This is one of those remarkably pleasant tours which an 
intelligent gentleman, who has seen much of the world, is 






32 NEW AND 

alone calculated to write — one of those productions which 
engage the attention and do not fatigue it, and which we 
read from first to last with the agreeable sensation, that we 
are gathering the information of very extensive travel easily, 
by our own fireside. — London Literary Gazette. 

One striking evidence of the rapid progress we are making 
in civilization is the constant and increasing demand for tra- 
vels and voyages. We are no longer contented to live within 
ourselves. The whole world is our theatre. We explore all 
its regions; nor is there a spot visited by the sun that is 
wholly unknown to us. Our enterprising countrymen go 
forth "to collect their intellectual treasures, and return home 
to enrich us with their stores. Every month adds something 
valuable to the general stock. We enjoy the benefit without 
encountering the peril. We sympathise with danger, while 
we feel that it is past, and luxuriate in pleasurable emotions, 
while our hearts thrill with the interest which the daring ad- 
venturer has thrown round himself. This species of writing 
has also a charm for every reader. The man of science and 
the rustic, the scholar and the mechanic, sit down with equal 
zest to participate in the mental feast; and thus knowledge 
is widely diffused — knowledge which invigorates the inward 
man, enlarging his capacity, and extending the sphere of his 
enjoyments, and which prepares a whole nation for liberal 
institutions, which invests them with political and commercial 
importance, and thus raises them in the scale of nations. The 
success of works of this description stimulates enterprise, 
and opens the largest field for the useful employment of en- 
ergies which might otherwise be wasted. 

Mr. Elliott justly ranks among the most enlightened and 
intelligent of his class. His unpretending volume discovers 
an enthusiastic love of nature, and the most liberal views of 
man in all his diversified conditions. We scarcely ever read 
a work in which there is so little to censure and so much to 
approve. Unlike many of his brethren, he is a good writer: 
his style is pure and classical. He is likewise a philosopher 
and a Christian. We first become his willing associates, 
and our intercourse soon ripens into friendship. We close 
the book with reluctance, and take leave of him with a sigh 
of regret. — London Xcw Monthly Magazine. 

Key & Biddle have now in press THE RELIGIOUS 
SOUVENIR— A Christmas, New Year and Birth Day 
Present for 1834. Edited by Gregory T. Bedell, D. D, 



POPULAR WORKS. 33 

Most of the engravings are already finished, and we feel no 
hesitation in saying the volume will be much superior in every 
respect to that of the present year, the success of which may 
be learned from the perusal of the following literary notices. 

A gift book which unites the embellishments of fancy and 
imagination, with a strictly religious and moral tendency in 
the whole texture of the work — a Souvenir which no person 
of strictly religious principles, would hesitate to place in the 
hands of a valued friend. Such a work has been pronounced 
a desideratum by many, whose opinions are regarded with 
deference by the religious community. — The Revivalist. 

The literary character of this Souvenir is of a high order, 
many of the piecesbreathe a pure, devotional spirit and Chris- 
tian fervour, and the whole are entirely devoid of sectarianism, 
and clothed in attractive unexceptionable language. Taken 
altogether, the Religious Souvenir is a work that may be 
warmly and generally commended. Mechanically it is a 
beautiful volume, and intellectually, such as does credit to all 
who have contributed to its pages. — Boston Traveller. 

This is an elegant Annual. The pieces are generally of 
a moral and religious tendency, but not the less interesting on 
that acount. — Journal of Commerce. 

The Religious Souvenir is a very beautiful holiday pre- 
sent, is Edited by the Rev. G. T. Bedell, and is devoted to 
moral and religious subjects, all original but one by the artist 
illustrating his own picture. In the initials subscribed to the 
articles, we recognize several writers who have heretofore 
distinguished themselves by contributions to our periodical 
literature. — N. Y. Commercial Advertiser. 

This is really a superb volume; and one which we hope 
will be widely circulated throughout the community. Dr. 
Bedell has shown considerable judgment in the selection and 
disposal of his matter, and we thank him for presenting to 
the public in so inviting a form, a work which is well calcula- 
ted to form pious feelings, and establish religious principles. — 
Family Journal. 

We doubt not, but many people of piety and taste, who 
wish to ornament their parlour and instruct those who may 
read ; or who desire to bestow a religious remembrancer on 
some beloved friend, will call at some book store for Dr. 
Bedell's " Souvenir." — Tlie Philadelphian. 



34 NEW AND 

A volume, too, which does not degrade or disgrace the sub- 
ject — a volume destined, not to pass away with the winter 
greens that adorn our Christmas parlours, but to maintain a 
lasting hold on the attention of the christian community, at 
least so long as good taste and wood sense shall have any vote 
in the selection of books. We have read the volume care- 
fully, and do not hesitate to pronounce it one of unusual in- 
terest as well as solid merit. — United Slates Gazette. 

Messrs. Key & Biddle have made a valuable present to 
religious parents, guardians and friends, in this elegant little 
volume. Why should all our gifts on these occasions be 
worldly or worse'? And why should religious truth always 
shun the aids of beautiful ornament 1 The embellishments 
are attractive, well selected, and well executed. The various 
papers which compose the volume are serious, tasteful, allur- 
ing, imbued with the spirit of the Gospel, in a word, such as we 
should have expected from one so zealous for the cause of 
Christ, and so inventive of happy thoughts as the Rev. Edi- 
tor. This annual may be safely recommended to the Chris- 
tian public. — The Presbyterian. 

To all, therefore, who desire intellectual improvement, and, 
at the same time, the gratification of a true taste — and to all 
who would make a really valuable present to their friends, we 
would say, in conclusion, go and procure the Religious Sou- 
venir, it is not merely a brilliant little ornament for the 
parlour centre table, but a book worthy of a place in every 
sensible man's library. — Cincinnatti Enquirer. 

The typography, embellishments, and general appearance 
of the work, render it fully equal in these respects to any 
of the kind published in our country, while its subjects are far 
more suitable for the contemplation of christians than the 
light reading with which most of them are filled. — Episcopal 
Recorder. 

The articles are not only interesting, but calculated to pro- 
duce a beneficial effect upon the minds of those who read it, 
therefore, a very proper work for the purpose for which it 
is designed, and hope it may meet with an extensive sale. — 
Baltimore Republican. 

We hail with much pleasure this attempt to convey religious 
truth in a garb at once pleasing and instructive. The popu- 
lar form of the annual is well adapted to the purpose, and 
may often invite the attention and make a salutary impres- 



POPULAR WORKS. 35 

sion, where works of a graver character would fail of effect 
when perused, or more probably be never perused at all. We 
commend, therefore, this new effort of Christian philanthro- 
py, and think it likely to be followed by useful results.— 
Charleston Courier. 

In the general character of those fashionable, and as to ap- 
pearance, attractive volumes, the annuals, there is so much 
that is trashy and unprofitable, that it was with no little mis- 
giving we looked into the pages of one which is now before 
us, entitled " The Religious Souvenir." The matter is 
altogether of religious and moral tendency, not chargeable 
with sectarian bias, and such as the most scrupulous need 
not hesitate to admit into family reading. — The Friend. 

This little work is intended to furnish what was heretofore 
wanted — a Christmas and New Year's offering, which may 
be bestowed and accepted by the most scrupulous. — Pitts- 
burg Gazette. 

We are happy to announce the tasteful appearance and 
valuable matter of the Religious Souvenir for 1833. Dr. 
Bedell is as much distinguished for his belles-lettres attain- 
ment, as for the profoundness of his scholarship and the pu- 
rity of his motives. Ho has found himself at home in this 
tasteful enterprize and in good company with the associated 
talent of the contributors to his beautiful pages. — N. Y. 
Weekly Messenger. 

The engravings for the work are chiefly from English de 
signs, by the best American artists, and may challenge com- 

!>arison with any contemporary works of this country. The 
iterary contributions to the volume are in strict accordance 
with the name. — United States Gazette. 

This work is got up in an unusual style of neatness and 
beauty, and ornamented with engravings of great elegance. 
The contents of the work are, as might have been expected 
from the high character of the Editor, of a moral and religious 
description, intended to produce the best effects upon the 
minds of its readers. — Daily Advertiser. 

Messrs. Key & Biddle have published a handsome little 
volume, entitled Religious Souvenir, and edited by the Rev. 
Dr. Bedell. It is embellished with beautiful engravings, and 
printed with elegance. The literary contents are very good — 
soundly pious, and free of all invidious remark or allusion. 
True Christianity is that which purifies the heart, liberalizes 
the feelings, and amends the conduct. — National Gazette. 



36 POPULAR WORKS. 

MEMOIRS OF DR. BURNEY, arranged from his 
own Manuscript, from family papers, and from personal re- 
collections, by his daughter, Madame D'Arblay. 

The Monthly Review in noticing the Memoirs of Dr. 
Burney, expresses the opinion " that a more amusing and 
profitable production has not appeared for many years." 

Several literary gentlemen on this side of the Atlantic who 
have examined the work, declare that next to Boswell's Life 
of Johnson, it is the most attractive and interesting memoir 
ever published. 

TRANSATLANTIC SKETCHES, comprising visits 
to the most interesting scenes in North and South America, 
and the West Indies, with notes on negro slavery and Cana- 
dian emigration, by Capt. J. E. Alexander, 42d Royal High- 
landers, F. R. G. S. M. R. A. S. etc. author of Travels in 
Asia, Persia, etc. 

THE ARISTOCRAT, by the author of Zoe, &c. 



W 132 



82 










r0 *- l J>L* ° 

♦ &/l???2* V 



* -UK* / ** 




• a o 













**o* 










+* * 








^* 












j4- t »_rf^ts^*. *e 



<* *'-•* ^6 




^o« 



♦V-,/722?, • O 








V 9 *** 







1*-. ^o« 




- 

,0 







^ 



^ "v j>* **ri- 



v 



V 




%p S ■ 




•. ^ A* \£ 

C, iP " S/V7 



*^» Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
4J* .o •!• # ■*> Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 



» ^ 



r » 




Treatment Date: July 2005 

r 

PreservationTechnologies I 

A WORLD LEAOER IN PAPER PRESERVATION V. 



& ' * > 









1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township. PA 16066 
(724) 779-21 1 1 




5-°^ 




% 







i \/ 







%/ :'< 










^0* 

















*^j£z« 







+*0* 










m* , 







^ * 




• <v 













** . 






'. *0« 

















"library of congress 




014 501 594 7 



